Extended Episode for Nevermore
by Scioneeris
Summary: When a mission to stop Dr. Light accidentally triggers something deeper, Raven's in for a whole new headache-literally. An expanded episode version of "Nevermore" RobinxRaven
1. Instinct

**A/N : And it's here, finally! The Extended Edition of Nevermore. Note that I said "edition" and not "ending". I've decided to follow the episode as best as I can and add in a few pieces here and there, before adding the ending. Since it is a Raven episode, there's plenty of fun and too much to condense into a mere ending. It also means there will be more than one chapter. Apologies if Raven is a bit OOC, but I'm following the episode as close as I can with my own deviations added in. **

**Disclaimer: ...**

**Robin: Is this going to be a 'thing'?**

**Me: I have no idea what you're talking about.**

**Robin: *sigh* **

**Me: What are you sighing for? You hardly did anything. **

**Robin: Except crash through buildings and walk away in one piece. **

**Me: And yell at Raven. **

**Robin: And walk away in one piece. **

**Me: ...and yell at Raven. **

**Robin: And walk away-never mind. Cyborg?**

**Me: Oi, wait! You can't just walk off and leave me to finish my own dialogue without-oh nevermind. I don't own any teen titans anything at all. And yes, I do enjoy having random conversations about absolutely nothing.  
**

_

* * *

Today is going to be a very bad day._

Raven sat bolt upright in bed. For a moment, she didn't breathe, afraid that the fragments of her dreams would melt away before she had a chance to gather her wits. Dreams were good indicators of the day head—in terms of how prepared her emotions were for battle.

One hand went to her head and Raven slipped out from beneath the covers, swinging her feet over the edge of the bed only to slump to the rug on the bedroom floor as her legs gave out from under her.

She could remember some. The dreams had been useless at best and chaotic at worst. It wasn't the way she wanted to wake up, but heroes couldn't be choosy and that was enough of an annoyance to fix her mood for the day.

Willing her legs to move, Raven glared at her feet until she was able to muster the energy to stumble towards the bathroom and a necessary shower. That was always a welcome moment in her morning routine.

A long sigh dribbled out of her lips.

_Stupid day…_

_

* * *

_

"Your pathetic skills can't outshine the brilliance of Dr. Light!" The doctor cackled maniacally, his wide eyes reflecting the insane hyperactivity behind his trademark weapon choice, a brilliant bolt of light. He slapped his hands together, shooting off a giant beam of light as Robin threw a birdarang. It was no match for his light beam. "You're fast, but I doubt you'll enjoy moving at the speed of light!" Touching his chest, Dr. Light's smile grew wider as the bulb on his outfit began to glow and another wide-angled blast sent Robin flying over the roof of a nearby building.

That was a most satisfactory development. Beast Boy came charging forward and the battle continued as Dr. Light threw insults and the Titans threw them back.

Unfortunately, the throwing wasn't as accurate as any of the titans had hoped. Instead, Beast Boy was shocked with bright light and Cyborg was somehow encased in a block of stone, with Starfire suffering from her own troubles.

Quite pleased with himself, Dr. Light surveyed the damage with a critical eye and a mocking laugh. He'd done better than he'd thought he would have. It was going to be a good day. He dusted his hands off, starting towards the gold bullion spilling out of the armored car on the sidewalk.

It was almost too easy.

"Hey! Let me outta here...!" Cyborg demanded, struggling in the stone prison. His face scrunched with the effort. "You-what did you do to me? Get me outta here!"

Dr. Light strolled by the trapped titan, his smirk more evident than before. "Now then, if nobody minds, I'll be taking the gold."

From the street shadows decorating the sidewalk, Raven's bored voice sliced through the air. "I mind." She hissed, authority seeping into her tone as she continued to speak from her mid-air hover. "Azarath Metrion Zin-

Before she could finish the incantation, Dr. Light swiped a finger on the light bulb plastered on his chest, shooting out another fat, yellow beam of destructive light.

There wasn't any time to react—Raven closed her eyes before the impact, internally raging at herself for the unavoidable circumstance. This was not the way she wanted it to go, but it was definitely the way a bad day made itself known. Landing on the cold, rough sidewalk, Raven struggled to swallow back the few emotions she hadn't had time to tame.

Her anger was the key to a locked box she knew better than to open. It was still up to her whether the day was decent or miserable and there was no way she was going to let some idiot decorated with lightbulbs cause a headache she didn't care for.

Raven's hands fisted against the stone beneath her as she pushed herself up from the awkward landing. The image of a raven's head flickered briefly in the center of the gold-rimmed, red broach clasped on the front of her cloak.

It was a detail she missed.

Her annoyance threatened to overflow as Dr. Light drew closer, gloating. "A Bit of advice, my dear." He swiped one hand over the giant bulb on his chest, another bright beam powering up. "Find shorter magic words!"

Raven's breath caught in her throat. _You didn't have to say that. _She thought, darkly_. You really didn't have to say that._ On her feet again, Raven latched onto the nearest disposable object with some potential—a motorcycle at the curb. Her mind seized the opportunity she allowed and levitating the bike, slung it towards the laughing doctor.

He blew it apart with one beam. The second beam slammed into Raven, driving her further down the sidewalk with another painful tumble. He took his time waltzing up the street towards the blue-purple bundle.

Raven choked back the anger sprouting too freely, too quickly from inside of her. This couldn't happen, this couldn't happen—this was going to happen. It was already too late. She could feel the darkened claws ripping at her from inside, the fragments of dreams she didn't want to deal with and realities that were too much of a hassle to acknowledge.

Idiot doctor.

"Don't come any closer!" She snarled, feeling her energy bunching up inside, screaming to be released.

His stupid laugh angered her more.

"What's the matter? Afraid of the light?" He taunted.

That was it.

Raven didn't even try to hold onto the last vestiges of dignity, she whirled on him in a pure, blind rage, swirling to her feet in a delicious swirl of power and fabric. Her eyes flared red, glowing strongly as she grew in height until she towards over the idiot lightbulb on two legs. Thick black snakes of energy shot out from beneath her cloak, shooting towards him.

"Aaah!" Dr. Light screeched. "No! No! Let me go! I won't do it-ahhh!" The tendrils caught hold of him, yanking him down to the same rough sidewalk and dragging him towards the terrifyingly towering figure in the purple cloak. Sparks began to fly as the black ribbons tightened their grip on him. "No! My suit! What are you-no, stop, you win. You win! I surrender!"

"Too late." Raven smirked, her red eyes drinking in every detail as the helpless victim was dragged towards her. Her voice rumbled with a new tone to it as if she spoke with a power that was older and darker than her own. "What's the matter? Afraid of the dark?"

"I surrender!" Dr. Light scrabbled at the sidewalk, his fingernails digging into the rough, brown stone. "No, please, NO!"

But he was pulled in anyway.

Robin dashed over, his timing impeccable as he lunged for the swiftly disappearing Dr. Light. He grabbed for the scrabbling hands and threw all his authority into the command that left his lips. "RAVEN, STOP!"

The effect was instantaneous.

At the sound of his voice, Raven's red eyes faded at once, snapping back to their usual, flat lavender orbs as she gasped aloud, immediately shrinking to her normal side. Her cloak shrank with her, fading away to reveal Dr. Light on the ground, curled into a fetal position—shaking and quivering with unrestrained fear.

Robin reached him just as Starfire did, having freed herself from the earlier trap. Crouching beside the villain, they both began to speak. "It's okay. You're going to be all right." Robin assured him. "Starfire?"

"Yes, yes. You will be most fine." Starfire said the words, uncertainly as she touched the man's shoulder. It was cold as ice.

He was babbling as if unaware that his mouth was moving. The shaking had not stopped, in spite of the words being spoken and Starfire's hand on his shoulder. "It was...no...so dark...make it stop...make it stop...!" Another agonized shudder passed through him.

Raven took a careful breath, her mind already switching gears to handle the situation. That had most certainly been one of the very worst ways to confirm that it was indeed, a terrible, horrible, very bad sort of day. She didn't even notice as her fellow teammates gathered around.

Beast Boy and Cyborg were the first to approach her, their expressions caught between worry and uncertainty. Beast Boy was the first one to speak. "Dude! Raven, what did you do?" He looked from the terrified villain to the girl in the purple cloak. "Aiep!" Beast Boy ducked behind Cyborg as the empathy turned to face him, her eyes having flared red as her lips curled back to deliver a feral snarl.

His reaction seemed to warn her and Raven immediately drew on the usual blank face she kept at her disposal. Struggling to maintain the mask of composure, Raven turned towards the nearest sliver of darkness, a narrow alleyway between the downtown buildings. She didn't hesitate. She went straight for it.

A shivering Beast Boy peered out from behind Cyborg. "Dude, what's her deal?" He whined.

Cyborg shrugged. "Beats me if I know." He turned back to the street where Robin had handcuffed the villain and Starfire was still babbling on about something or the other. He could hear the sound of the police approaching and for the moment, he forced thoughts of his purple-cloaked teammate out of his head. If something was wrong, they'd all deal with later.

He hoped.

Cyborg swallowed as his eyes flickered towards the dark alley where Raven had melted into the darkness. He made a mental note to speak to Robin.

"Cyborg? Beast Boy? Everyone alright?" Robin's voice drew their attention and the two young men hurried forward.

* * *

**~*Please Review!*~ **


	2. The Morning After

**A/N : And here's chapter two! I might get another chapter out this weekend, since Spring Break has officially started. Woohoo! ^_^ Thank you for all the reviews and faves! It really makes my and is the perfect incentive in writing the upcoming chapters. **

**Disclaimer: See first chapter. **

**Robin: Lazy...**

**Me: So? **

**Robin: No comment. **

**Me: That was a comment. Shut up. Read the story. I don't have the patience to quibble with you today. *off to write chapter 3*  
**

* * *

Raven vaguely recalled the calming interior of her bedroom as the portal spat her out. It was a necessary haven away from the street fight with the annoying Dr. Light and Beast Boy's accusing eyes. She could've done without seeing the expressions on her teammates faces.

Starfire had managed to keep a beautifully shocked and surprised expression while Robin's mask kept the rest of his face the same way, with the only visible twitch as the slightly narrowed look sent in her direction after his loud yell.

A shiver ran through her and Raven quickly moved to the center of the room, calling lightly on the candles she had stashed in the corner and mentally moving them about, to create a circle on the floor as she sat down, cross-legged.

Robin's lack of expression was something she was vaguely used to. It was generally easier to pick out what he couldn't say in the tone of his voice than through his face, though lately even that had become more difficult. Beast Boy's undisguised horror had said more than the short inquiry punctuated by his trademark exclamation of 'dude!' while Cyborg seemed to have borrowed a page from Robin's book with a face as blank as toilet paper.

The candles lit themselves as Raven instructed them and assumed the perfect posture of the lotus position. She couldn't deal with petty things like that, right now she needed the peace and quiet before her teammates returned—and more alone time than she was ever able to manage.

Her jaw cranked into a locked position, lips pursed as her thumb and forefinger formed the usual circular shape and her body quivered from the sheer amount of emotional energy channeling through her powers.

The crazy villain had managed to get to her. No, she'd managed to let her guard down just enough that a lapse in her own training had allowed something as insignificant as Dr. Light to cause trouble for her.

That had been a dangerous outburst—a too dangerous outburst.

Her eyelids slid shut and her lips began to move in the familiar, necessary chant. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos, Azarath metrion zinthos, azarath metrion zinthos…"

Hopefully the next morning would bring better tidings than this one had.

* * *

The titan tower came to life the next morning at the sound of banging pots and pans in the kitchen. Beast Boy was adorably dressed in a traditional chef's hat and white-ruffled apron. His green face was curved into a smile and he was practically radiating energy as he hopped around in the kitchen, putting together a breakfast.

"Rise and shine, amigos!" He announced, banging a metal spoon the back of a mixing bowl, an improvised food bell. He snickered as his sleepy teammates trickled into the room, following the sounds and smells of food. He skipped back to the counter where he began to energetically mix something inside of the bell-turned-bowl.

Cyborg, Starfire and Robin took their time shuffling to the table and taking their usual places. Starfire yawned, sleepily, propping up her chin on both hands as she watched Beast Boy flitting around the kitchen. It was a rather amusing sight to her and her green eyes began to sparkle merrily as he spun from the counter to the stove top and then to the refrigerator.

Robin waited patiently, while Cyborg fiddled with his arm and retrieving the morning news. They nodded a greeting to each other, Cyborg more occupied with Beast Boy's antics. "I thought you said breakfast was ready." He eyed the green boy suspiciously.

"Smells good." Starfire observed. "It smells most wonderfully delicious!"

Beast Boy huffed. "Thanks, Star." He shot a glance at Cyborg. "And breakfast is served." He trotted over to the table, a steaming pan carefully balanced in one hand. "Bon appetit!"

"Thanks, Beast Boy. Everything looks great." Robin surveyed the breakfast spread as Beast Boy set the pan down on the table along with a few smaller platters.

Starfire's eyes turned to bright green sparkles. "Oooh!" She squealed. "On my planet, such a feast would mark the arrangement of a marriage. Tell me, Beast Boy, to whom are you engaged? This is certainly a most joyous day!"

"Aie!" Beast Boy yelped, jerking back so fast that his chef's hat nearly toppled from his head. He grabbed the quivering white token of cuisine and shrank a respectable distance from the overjoyed alien princess. "D-don't k-know what you're talking about." He stammered, the green fading from his face.

Robin hid a chuckle in his glass of milk and set it down, reaching for a plate to help himself. Beast Boy's breakfast efforts were always interesting.

Cyborg snorted, snatching a plate from the clean stack in the center of the table and helping himself to generous portions of the breakfast foods before him. It barely took him a minute to do so and within another moment, he had scarfed down half the plate. The suspicious expression on his face contorted into an entirely different one of disgust when his head turned to the side and he promptly rejected the entire serving. "Blech. That's not eggs! That's that tofu stuff!" He glared at the green boy, snatching up a glass of milk at hand. It was drained within a few seconds only to follow the same ritual as the tofu. "That's not even real milk! You call that breakfast?" Cyborg was on his feet, arms waving in the air. "You did not just try to feed me that veggie stuff that you-!"

"Cyborg?" Starfire stuffed a forkful of tofu in her mouth. Her face reflected various shades of the rainbow until she swallowed and then the sparkles returned to her eyes. "Friend Beast Boy, this is a most delicious breakfast of-"

"Delicious?" Steam puffed out of Cyborg's ears. "Star, you don't know any-"

Their argument began as the kitchen door slid open to announce Raven's arrival.

Beast Boy immediately straightened, ignoring Cyborg, instead choosing to favor the irate fellow with a disapproving frown as his attention shifted to the purple-cloaked girl. He'd wondered where she'd gone off after yesterday. Apparently she'd only returned to the tower. That was good. He liked knowing where she was—that made it easier to know when he was in immediate danger or not. Something about the empath always sent a chill down his spine.

Raven stepped inside the kitchen, her left eyebrow offering the faintest twitch at Cyborg's alternations between yelling at Beast Boy and explain to Starfire about the proper earth breakfast foods. The very scene made her head throb as she continued further into the 'madhouse' and angled towards the counter.

Robin's head popped up from his plate and he flashed a friendly smile. "Hey, Raven. Want breakfast? Beast Boy's turn today—tastes good." He took a tiny swallow of soymilk.

Raven choked down the words twisting up in her head. It wasn't much of a surprise that after last night, Robin was the only one that had the nerve to speak to her. There was almost a touch of comfort in that realization until Raven realized he was probably just being polite. They were all eating and they'd probably all started before she'd appeared.

She reached the counter and began to fiddle with the coffeemaker to pour a steaming cup of hot water. Her herbal tea blend was kept in a black can in the cupboard above it with a skull and crossbones neatly painted on the front. She retrieved the can, silently repeating her meditation chant within her head to drown out the noise behind her.

Prying off the lid of the metal can, Raven unrolled the velvet baggie inside and took out a pinch of the ancient herbal blend. Crumpling the leaves over the steaming cup, she watched as the clear water turned to a honey-golden shade. That was good. She stuck one finger in the steaming liquid, ignoring the faint spike of pain from the hot temperature.

That was a good temperature, just drinkable by her standards. Folding up the velvet pouch, she tucked it back in the metal can and returned it to the designated spot in the top cupboard. The very act of making tea was calming, allowing the background noise to become just that—background noise.

The temporary calm was displaced as Beast Boy suddenly popped up behind her right shoulder, holding a steaming white plate filled with his vegetarian breakfast fare. The very sight made her stomach churn as her fingers gripped the teacup.

"Breakfast, Raven?" He popped up over her other shoulder. "It's good. Wakey-wakey, tofu eggs and bakey."

Raven stared at her blank expression reflected in the tea as she picked up the cup. "Herbal tea." She muttered, stiffly. And leave me alone you green-headed—

Beast Boy didn't take the hint, instead choosing to dance around her as she turned to leave, waving the food-filled plate beneath her nose. "Aw, come on, just one little taste. You'd like it. You could probably use a little food after the way you cooked Dr. Light last night."

That did it.

Raven felt her powers flare in tandem with her emotions as she whirled on the unsuspecting animal morpher. Her eyes flared a dangerous red as she glowered at him speaking a single word, "NO!"

The entire plate was enveloped in black, the signature sign of Raven's powers at work.

Beast Boy didn't have time to react—other than a faint whimper as the plate he held exploded. The eggs streaked upwards to the ceiling, stopping halfway and deciding to drop back on his head. The whimper completed itself as he dropped the plate while Raven turned away, leaving through the side door.

A dribble of tofu trickled down the side of his face and splatted on the kitchen floor. Beast Boy swallowed. He mentally reviewed what he'd said, trying to find the connection between his words and Raven's reaction. His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as his face scrunched up into an expression of annoyance. He scowled.

Robin rose from the table, crossing over to the counter to take out the instant coffee from the cupboard. "Maybe you should go apologize." Robin twisted open the little glass bottle of coffee crystals and shook some into the steaming cup of water. He could already see the expression on his teammate's face without having to turn.

Beast Boy stared at him indignantly. "Me?" He sputtered. "Why me? I'm not the one who just turned breakfast into a battlefield!" He crossed his arms over his chest, the scowl deepening. It was bad enough for Raven's outburst to leave him feeling like an idiot, but that wasn't helped by Robin blunt suggestion. The kind of suggestion that usually hinted it was more of an unofficial order than a mere suggestion.

Cyborg crossed the kitchen to join them, carrying his now empty breakfast dishes. He deposited them in the sink and began to run the tap over them. He threw a sideways glance at Robin who was staring at his cup of coffee. "You should. After the weirdness that went down last night, you should know better than to go messing with her." He turned his attention to the dishes and began to swab them with a soapy sponge. "Just apologize."

"But I was I was trying to be nice!" Beast Boy moved to the side as Starfire approached, her empty dishes in hand. "No matter how hard I try, she still treats me like tofu eggs!" Cyborg snorted from the sink. Beast Boy ignored him. "You know, she's never once laughed at any of my jokes and-"

"'Least she listens. I just kinda tune you out." Cyborg smirked, accepting Starfire's handful of dishes and beginning to wash them as well.

Starfire immediately took up a position to his left, reaching for the dish towel. Her earlier chipper expression had now faded into something more serious as she began to dry the first plate Cyborg had placed on the dish rack. "Raven is complicated. There is much about her we are not meant to understand." She tried to smile at the disgruntled Titan, but the effort was wasted as he swabbed his face with a paper towel.

"How are we supposed to deal with her then? How can we even trust her? I mean she could've-"

Robin interrupted smoothly, skirting the food on the floor as he angled towards the side door. "She's our friend, Beast Boy. What more do we need to know?" He took a sip of the instant coffee and his face twitched. It would have to work for now. He started for the door and turned, just slightly. "You might want to apologize before she starts on her morning meditations." With that last line, the titan leader disappeared from view as the door slid shut.

Cyborg handed Starfire the last plate and threw the wet sponge at Beast Boy's head, clocking the green boy in the ear. "I did the dishes, you're cleaning the floor." He stepped around the tofu mess, heading out through the main door.

The sponge slid from the side of his face and down the front of his suit before it plopped on the ground. Beast Boy's scowl morphed into something more contemplative as he bent to the ground. Robin's words were simple and precise—just what he always expected from the boy wonder, but there was still something nagging in the back of his head.

"What do we know about her?" He mumbled to himself, beginning to scrub the spilled food with the sponge. "I'm thinkin' not enough."

"All done!" Starfire chirped, setting the last dish on the counter and transferring the dry stack to the appropriate spot in the dish cupboard. She was humming softly as she floated around Beast Boy and out the side door, leaving him alone.

* * *

Because he didn't have a good reply for Robin's argument, Beast Boy found himself standing in the hallway outside of the purple-haired girl's room. Apologizing was the very last thing he wanted to do to Raven, but then he looked down at his stomach and realized that she hadn't eaten anything at all.

When he didn't eat, he got grumpy. Maybe it was the same way for Raven. Squaring his shoulders, he leaned away from the door and gingerly tapped the door. The sound was barely audible and after a few seconds of dread, he realized that nothing had happened.

He shrugged. "Oh, well, nobody's home." Relief flooded through him and he turned on his heel, already whistling a cheerful tune. Skipping that unpleasant experience was definitely a good way to continue the day.

That is, until he walked into something hard and cold. The metal clang was painful as the realization sank in. Beast Boy inched backwards, rubbing his poor nose. "Ow." He scowled up at the cyborg.

Cyborg merely glared down at him. "You might want to knock a little louder." He perked a brow, settling one massive hand down on the younger boy's shoulder. There was a muffled squeak as he turned Beast Boy to face the door and walked him back the few steps towards it. The younger boy shuddered as Cyborg raised one metal arm and pounded on the door.

One knock, two knock and on the third knock the door fell inward. Cyborg gulped. He hadn't meant to smash the door off the hinges. That was bad. "My bad." He mumbled, his hand falling from Beast Boy's shoulder.

Raven's newly exposed room was now within their view. It was traditionally dark inside, just like the dark empath herself, crowded with mysterious, unusual objects.

Beast Boy choked. "Great. Now we both have to apologize." He learned forward, peering further into the room, unable to resist this new development.

There were various shelves filled with old books, a few comedy masks on a white marble pedestal. An oddly shaped mirror was perfectly placed on one far wall, with the centerpiece of the room—the bed, partially recessed into the opposite wall. Knickknacks of chalices, braziers, ancient chests and lamps, with a giant globe in one corner took up a sizeable amount of space. It was painted in shades of grey and black, without a hint of purple anywhere, save for the bed and the pillows.

Cyborg hesitated. "Uh, Raven? Sorry about the door. Raven?" He caught Beast Boy's shoulder, pulling him back from leaning into the room.

The green boy wriggled free of his grasp, strolling right on into the forbidden territory. "Dude, she's not here. Come on." Standing in the middle of the room, Beast Boy trotted over to the bookshelves and then turned to examine the masks on the pedestal. They were theater comedy masks, featuring the classic happy-sad face in their solemn mounting. "Whoa. Looks like Halloween came early this year." He poked it—before yanking his finger back. It was probably a good idea not to touch those, something about them sent a shiver down his spine as he turned his curiosity elsewhere.

Cyborg still stood in the hallway, hovering just within the doorway. "Beast Boy, we're in Raven's room." He whispered, gingerly inching into the room, with the intent of dragging the green boy out of there. "We should not be in Raven's room. She doesn't let anybody in here-ever! We're gonna be toast if she-"

"Chill. This is our big chance to find out more about her." Beast Boy grinned, crossing the room to stand near the ornate dresser on the left wall. He smirked. "For instance-" Laughing, he picked up a decorated handmirror, studying his reflection. "-check out this beauty mirror. Who would've thought Raven spends time sprucing? I mean, seriously. Ah! Is that a zit?" Peering deeper into the mirror, Beast Boy poked at a spot on one cheek, squinting to see clearly in the darkened room.

Two pairs of glowing red eyes flared to life on the mirror's frame, one above the other. The second pair of eyes superimposed themselves on the green boy's reflection, changing the image to something truly freakish. "Ah!" Beast Boy yelped, dropping the mirror as he scrambled backwards.

A red-rimmed swatch of black energy shot straight out of the mirror's face, twisting into the form or an arm before it snaked out and grabbed the green titan. Shaking its prey back and forth, with no regards to his struggles, the energy hand squeezed tighter, pulling him towards the mirror.

Cyborg cringed, examining the masks on the pedestal. He'd seen enough to last him a lifetime. This was definitely not a good idea. He should've stayed out in the hallway. Pushing the thoughts away, he turned towards the door. "Come on, B, we should really get out of here-what?" He stared at the mirror and the hand protruding, holding Beast Boy captive. "Yo, B!" Cyborg leapt forward in a spectacular sliding grab as Beast Boy was dragged down towards the mirror.

It was a few precious seconds too late.

Both titans were yanked through the mirror, disappearing to wherever the portal led. There was a faint puff of wispy smoke and then nothing as the mirror returned to its original appearance.

Silence reigned in the now empty room, without the faintest hint, but the mirror lying on the floor that something had gone amiss.

Raven wouldn't be happy at all.

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**~*~*~*Please review!~*~*~**


	3. Wierdsville

**A/N: And here's Chapter 3! Woot! I didn't think I'd be able to finish it so quickly, but here it is. Thanks a bunch also for the reviews/comments. I'm glad you like this! ^_^ I'm having fun trying to describe all the different things in Raven's head, so there may be a few wordy bits tangled up in this installment, but enjoy the read!  
**

**Disclaimer: Uh...**

**Robin: Now-**

**Me: See first chapter.**

**Robin: ...**

**Me: Don't look at me. You're not even in this chapter. :P  
**

* * *

A whirlpool of Raven's signature black energy glowed to life as it spat out Beast Boy and Cyborg into a new realm. They were deposited on a flat, floating chunk of rock where nothing made any sense at all. There was rich ceiling of stars—red stars, of course—and a few large asteroids. The titans turned in time to see the portal that had delivered them closing up into nothingness.

For a moment, neither of them said anything. The shock of the new surroundings was more than just a change of scenery. There was nothing vaguely normal about this new place. Twisted wood-like sculptures formed archways at various points, the nearest one having been an anchor for the portal.

"Oh, man!" Cyborg gaped, staring overhead as another asteroid streaked by. There wasn't even a pathway out, just more floating rocks. This was bad. This was really bad. "Now you've done it. I told you we shouldn't have gone in her room." He tapped his forearm controls, fiddling with the buttons and interface. "Man…this can't be right."

"What can't be?" Beast Boy turned in a complete circle. "Dude, where are we?" He took a few steps in one direction, then turned and traced them back in the other side.

"You're asking the wrong robot. My sensors must be on the blink, 'cause they're saying we're in Titans Tower." Cyborg waved the arm around and then fiddled with it some more. It was disconcerting enough to be dumped in a place covered in weirdness, but it was ten times worse when he realized that his own systems weren't functioning properly—at least, at the moment.

"Right." Beast Boy said, slowly. "So how do we get back?" He cast a glance at the cyborg still scowling at his own arm. He'd prefer to follow Cyborg's idea over his own, since the easy-going titan generally had decent plans for getting out of trouble.

Cyborg shrugged. "I guess we start walking." He surveyed the closest floating rock. It wouldn't be that hard to jump over. Even if he fell short, he could count on the green titan to morph into something with wings and keep them in the air for the necessary few seconds.

"Come on. I'm serious. We're on a rock in the middle of nowhere, it's not like we'll-" Beast Boy stopped in mid-whine as the fragments of floating rocks began to rearrange themselves into a cracked, but useful pathway. A very welcome, useful pathway. "O-kay."

Cyborg was the first to move, starting out. He inspected the pathway with a faint air of suspicion, ignoring the strangeness of it for the moment, based on the sheer fact that it was the only pathway before them and therefore the most logical course of action. "Feels solid." He continued further out. "Come on, B."

Beast Boy grunted, falling into step beside them. "If sending us to Weirdsville's Raven's idea of a joke, I am so not laughing." He cast a glance around to see an old withered tree in the foreground with a curious raven perched on one gnarled branch. "Definitely not laughing." He grumbled.

"Hey, she didn't send us here. You're the one who went snooping in her room and popping zits in her magic mirror." Cyborg sighed. "You shouldn't have done that."

The raven on the gnarled branch eyed them curious, its red eyes flaring faintly as the two titans continued on.

"But, Cy, who booby-traps a mirror?"

Cyborg grunted. "Maybe it wasn't a trap. Maybe it's Raven's way home. Maybe this is where she's from." He suppressed a shudder. It wasn't a very inviting kind of homeland. If he came from here too, then he'd definitely be like the mysterious purple-haired girl.

"Maybe. Definitely creepy enough." Beast Boy shifted closer, his shoulders hunching up towards his ears. "Creeptacular, in fact." He shivered.

A wispy, child-like voice broke the awkward silence in the mysterious void. "Turn back." There was the faintest feminine hint to it. "Turn back."

Both titans whirled around to look behind them. Beast Boy stood half-behind Cyborg, his eyes wide. "L-like I was saying..." He licked his lips.

"Turn back." The voice intoned.

The titans twisted to see and on a rocky archway over the makeshift path, there were three small black birds, each with a pair of glowing red eyes. "Turn back. Turn back." They chorused together. "Turn back."

"Sweet!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Betcha they can tell us how to get home. Finally." He streaked away from Cyborg and dashed over to the archway, grinning up at them, pausing for a moment to think of what to ask.

"Careful." Cyborg said, wearily. "How do we know they're not a threat?" But his words were duly ignored as the green boy approached the raven trio. "BB…"

"Hel-lo? Remember me? Beast Boy? If they were dangerous, I'd know." Beast Boy puffed out his chest with pride. "It's kind of-"

"Uh-huh." Cyborg rolled his eye. Beast Boy knowing how to talk to animals might be a given, but the way he'd go about it was probably on par with his ability to properly apologize to Raven. He sighed. If the green boy had simply used his head in the first place, then they probably wouldn't have been in this place to begin with. Then again, Cyborg stifled a groan—he probably should've stopped the idiot in the first place.

Beast Boy, of course, was ignoring the cyborg as usual as he approached the raven trio, tempering his voice to a soothing coo. "Hey, little guys. My buddy and I were wondering if you could help us-" He blinked up at the archway. The raven trio was gone. Beast Boy blinked and then stared down at his feet. There were now five ravens there with glowing red eyes and they were chanting the same mantra over and over again.

"Turn back. Turn baaaccckk." The warning building up to a crescendo as the birds' beaks suddenly grew longer and sprouted a row of shiny, sharp teeth. "Turn back!" Each eye split in half to form another, the appearance now of Raven's traditional four-eyes.

"Aie!" Beast Boy jerked back in surprise, whirling and running smack into Cyborg. They tumbled to the pathway in a tangle of arms and legs.

The birds now multiplied into a flock of ravens, zooming past Cyborg and zeroing in on the scrambling shape-shifting green specimen. Beast Boy's eyes bugged out as he hurriedly morphed into a hippopotamus and opened his mouth wide to capture three of them on his tongue. Snapping his mouth shut with a self-satisfied smirk, the expression turned teary when the prey squirmed and fought inside his mouth. Opening his mouth, Beast Boy tried to shake them off only to see that the trio had latched onto his tongue with their sharp-toothed beaks.

Cyborg wasn't faring any better as the birds dive-bombed him, beating against his cyborg shell with their angry wings and biting everywhere they could with their sharp-toothed beaks. "Get 'em off me! Get 'em off me!" Cyborg shouted, waving his arms as he ran along the pathway. Running was useless because the birds immediately followed him. "Cut it out already!" He aimed his cannon and fired a shot. "Take that, huh? How'd you like that?"

And back and forth they went.

First Beast Boy morphed into an ostrich followed by Cyborg, then the flock streaked after him. Cyborg hitched a ride on the ostrich-turned-llama, blasting the creatures back with his sonic cannon shot. One of the toothed birds swooped wildly past them, drawing the Cyborg's fire.

"No, you do not!" Cyborg growled, taking aim and firing off several round bolts. At one point, the bird flew straight towards them, aiming low. "I gotcha." Cyborg twisted to the side and fired down.

It registered a moment too late, what exactly it was that he'd done. There was barely time to see Beast Boy's panic-stricken expression as his ears folded backwards and they plummeted downwards.

Oh no-!

Cyborg grabbed for the jagged edge of the broken path, holding steady with one hand while nearly throttling the green llama with the other in an attempt to get a better hold on the kid. He was starting to haul them both back up topside when a new voice caught his ears.

"Hey guys!"

Beast Boy stopped squirming as Cyborg turned to see. He couldn't believe his ears and when he did see who was speaking, he couldn't believe his eyes either. Raven was standing just a few feet away, grinning merrily one hand extended in a slight wave.

She was standing upside down.

Upside down without the slightest problem—even her cloak was falling perfectly in line. The second shock that registered was the fact that the cloak wasn't her usual purple-ish blue hue, but a bright, vibrant pink. Her smile was still visible and she didn't seem to be the least bit put off by the strange surroundings.

"What's up?"

Cyborg blinked. "I don't know anymore." The words came out as an almost whine. He tried to twist his head only to have Beast Boy slam right into him as they tumbled to the new 'ground'. They were no longer falling up, but down. "Whoa!" He yelped.

Raven giggled, not even making the slightest attempt to hide the fact that she'd actually just giggled.

Beast Boy's llama form melted away as he took on his human appearance once more. He looked around from the ground to Cyborg and then to the Pink Raven. His head shook, his mind boggling at what he was seeing before him contrasting with what he knew inside of his little green brain. "Raven?" He sputtered. "How did-where are-what just-" He definitely couldn't think straight at all, which was probably why the only question that made it past his lips wasn't really a sensible one at all. "-why are you wearing pink?"

The pink Raven giggled again. "'Cause it's my favorite color?" She shrugged as if the answer was obvious.

"It is?" Beast Boy stared at her. That was something he didn't think he could fit his head around—ever. Raven liked Pink? He slapped his head.

It didn't help.

Cyborg slowly stood up, dusting himself off. "Look, I'd love to talk fashion, but I don't suppose you know how to get home, do you?" He poked at the controls on his cyborg arm.

"The Forbidden Door." Pink Raven said, matter-of-factly. She pointed with one pink banded arm towards the rest of the path extending beyond several other arches before stopping at the end on one distant asteroid rock. "It's the only way out, but you don't want to go there." She flashed a grin. "Not now, anyway."

Beast Boy and Cyborg exchanged a glance, then turned back to her. "Uh...yeah, we do." They chorused.

"Fine." Pink Raven shrugged. "But don't say I didn't warn you." Stretching out her arms like wings, she began to make airplane sounds, running down the pathway towards the next arch. There was a hop and a skip in her step, a degree of happiness that was almost surreal.

Cyborg gaped openly before turning to the green boy beside him. "Have you ever seen her this happy?" He started after her.

Beast Boy shrugged, hurrying after him. "Dude, I didn't even know Raven could do happy." He watched her skipping off and a faint pang in his chest made him tuck the feeling away for later thought.

They strolled through the archway and everything faded into weirdness.

"Oh man." Cyborg groaned. Beast Boy didn't know what to say. They'd walked out of one problem and right into another one.

A peaceful looking landscape was stretched out before them. A bright yellow sky, stone arch springs stretched over head and there were other happy-girlish things adorning their new surroundings. It was relaxing and terrifying in the same moment.

"Now where are we?" Cyborg tapped his arm again.

The path continued on, threading through the next arch and there was a huge meadow split in half by the pathway itself, showing pink grass and pink trees. A cheerful, happy and peaceful landscape—set in pink.

They definitely weren't getting anywhere anytime soon.

* * *

**~*~*~*Please Review! It keeps me happy and writing faster!*~*~***


	4. Realizations

**A/N: Yay-more progress! LOL. Here's Chapter 4 and I'm about halfway on chapter 5, which is kind of surprising. I might manage to finish this story before break is over. O_o WOW. That'd be a first for me. Anyway, thank you all for the reviews and the faves. I truly 'preciate it. Makes me happy. Very happy. ^_^ Also, since this is an extended episode version, it means I'm sticking in stuff here and there that don't appear in the actual episode. It also means you'll real more of Robin's thoughts/Raven's reactions, etc. This is a Rob/Rae fic, it's just taking some time to get to that point. Anyway, quit reading my ramblings and read the story! (and pretty please leave a comment/suggestion/whatever)  
**

**Disclaimer: Three cheers for herbal tea!**

**Robin: That's not a disclaimer. **

**Me: So sue me. **

**Robin: ...**

**Me: Raven drinks tea. **

**Robin: Your point is?**

**Me: You like Raven.**

**Robin: And...?**

**Me: Raven likes tea. I like tea.  
**

**Robin: Just say the disclaimer. **

**Me: Don't wanna. **

**Robin: *birdarang aimed at steaming teacup* **

**Me: I don't own any Teen Titan's anything. **

**Robin: *smirk* That was easy...**

**Me: Shut up.  
**

* * *

The pink landscape was disconcerting.

No, that wasn't the word, in fact, Cyborg wasn't sure what word he wanted to describe the new strangeness he was standing in. There wasn't any kind of explanation that would make sense here—at least, not the kind of explanation he could handle just then.

In the world of fluffy pinkness, the Pink Raven stood off to the corner and a bewildered Beast Boy simply stared in a cross between pure shock—and absolute awe. They stood, together, simply trying to take it in without losing whatever grasp on reality they'd had.

It was a very fragile grasp.

Things should not be pink—and there definitely shouldn't be floating strawberries. A lovely strawberry specimen floated past on the air and Beast Boy followed it with his head. "I think this might be where air fresheners come from." He took an appreciative sniff.

Pink Raven dissolved into a fit of giggles. "Good one!" She held her stomach, the giggles obviously getting the better of her.

Cyborg was sure he'd officially seen everything. He gulped. This Raven was something he didn't think he could adjust to at all. "You're laughing?" He had to clarify.

"At one of my jokes?" Beast Boy was now in complete shock.

But Pink Raven didn't even seem to notice their reactions, she turned with a flip of her cheery pink cape. "Sure. I've always thought you were funny, BB. But hey, looks aren't everything, right?" There was another giggle as she skipped off. "…air fresheners…mmm."

"Now I've heard it all." Cyborg mumbled.

Beast Boy just sagged against him as his mind tried and failed to make sense of the simple exchange between them. "Weirdsville." He moaned. "Weirdsville."

Her laughter echoed as she disappeared through the next archway.

* * *

_"Herbal tea"_

Her voice was echoing somehow in his ears, not quite ringing, but not quite stopping either. He knew from the tone of voice what look she would have on her face. He'd taken up the coffee drinking for two reasons.

Something twitched in the back of Robin's head and he stopped with the coffee cup halfway to his mouth. He didn't really care to drink coffee, it was probably more of a habit than anything else. Making a cup of instant caffeine meant he shared the same hot water in the same coffee maker that Raven did. The same water she made her herbal tea with. The same tea she practically lived for. He wondered if she'd ever put that much thought into a ritual that seemed just as much a habit to her as it was to him. He hoped that she didn't.

It meant it'd be another invisible connection he was thankful to have between them.

Last night's events replayed in his head and he mentally reviewed the entire episode—again. He'd never seen Raven snap like that before.

He'd never spoken to her like that either.

Granted, his yell had been for everyone's safety and it was meant to stop the empath directly in her attack, but the moment he'd shouted, the reaction that had flitted across her face was something else. One of her practiced expressions had instantly replaced the glimpse of whatever that had been before she withdrew in a swirl of purple-blackness. That had been some kind of mad power, pure blackness and anger rolling off of her in waves that had made him double-take before he'd called her name.

He hadn't known what else to do—what else to say.

He'd kind of lost track of her a bit after that. Starfire had come to help him calm down the hysterical Dr. Light and then the police arrived just minutes before he waved Cyborg and Beast Boy over. He'd worried—briefly—when Beast Boy volunteered the information he hadn't asked, the fact that Raven had disappeared.

So he'd worried a bit more. Wondering where she'd gone, why she hadn't said anything and whether she was alright. Then Cyborg had clonked the green kid on the head and told him to make himself useful. Robin took the cue to resume his role as leader, pushing the thoughts away for later review.

Now the worry was returning with tiny, quiet footsteps, teasing and taunting in the back of his head. Robin's grip on the ceramic mug tightened with an audible squeak , thanks to his everpresent-gloves. He hadn't been the least bit surprised when she'd skipped breakfast.

One part of him knew that her self-imposed distance between the team was something she needed more than they did. He hadn't expected her to return to normal as if nothing had happened. But he hadn't expected such a violent reaction either—then again, he sighed—it was Beast Boy. Sometimes the kid had knack for trampling through whatever patience his fellow teammates offered him.

That had been one of those moments.

Though, now that he thought of it, Robin began to wonder where the rest of them had gone. He was fairly certain that Beast Boy would at least attempt to apologize to Raven and quite frankly, that was the best he expected from the animal morpher. It would only be a headache if they'd prolonged the breakfast incident and while he might easily forget it, Raven probably wouldn't.

Of course, by the time he'd figured that far, Robin realized that Cyborg had probably gone out of his way to accompany the younger boy—to insure that the apology really was delivered in all its authenticity.

That brought a smile and Robin swallowed the last of his lukewarm coffee. That meant the only one unaccounted for was Starfire and he figured she'd appear soon enough.

* * *

"Robin?" The alien girl's voice floated into the room before her hovering self appeared. "Ah, Robin!" The joy returned to her face along with all other notes of cheer as she flew over.

"Hey Starfire."

"Has Beast Boy finished the apologizing to Raven?"

The boy wonder shrugged. "Probably. What are you doing now?"

The question seemed to throw her off balance for a moment as she thought about it. She'd been searching for him everywhere but here, her last spot having been the training room. Now that she did think about it, Starfire realized that she hadn't seen Cyborg anywhere. "Cyborg?"

"Training room?" Robin guessed.

"N-no."

There was a moment of patient silence between them and Robin waited, knowing that she would speak whenever she felt she was ready.

Sure enough, her face brightened by several degrees moments later. "Perhaps we should check on friend Raven!"

Her enthusiasm nearly made him choke on the coffee he hadn't swallowed. As it was, Robin hid his face behind the cup, trying to think of a way out of that one. He didn't mind visiting Raven. He didn't mind checking up on Raven. Good grief, he didn't mind talking to Raven, regardless of what had happened when. It was more a matter of doing all of that alone—not with an overeager Starfire accompanying him

"Yes, I think that is a most excellent thing to do, come Robin."

And before he could react, Starfire grabbed him in her usual way and streaked out of the great room, pulling him along. The only evidence that he'd been there was the empty coffee mug on the coffee table.

As the corridors whizzed by, Robin made a mental note to bring up this habit the next time he had one of their talks. Starfire could be oblivious to the simplest of things at times and he had a feeling this was one of those times. She was worried about Raven, but afraid to go alone, which was why she'd enlisted his company. While he didn't really mind much, the whole flying-through-the-halls bit was something he preferred to avoid.

They jerked to a stop in front of Raven's room and Starfire's gasp said more than he could coherently formulate. The door to Raven's room had been knocked in and there seemed to be something ominous emanating from the shadowy interior.

He swallowed hard. "Raven? You in there?"

"Friend Raven?" Starfire hovered closer to the door, unwilling to stick her head inside, her grip on Robin's arm tightening as she spoke. "It is I, Starfire…and Robin. We only wish to ask how you are-eek!" Starfire yelped, jerking back as her gaze fell on one of the more unusual objects in Raven's room.

"Starfire?" Robin picked himself up off the ground with an inward sigh. "You okay?" He took her arm this time, guiding her away from the empath's personal haven. If she wasn't in her room, then he definitely knew where she was. It was also probably a good idea to get as far away from her room as possible. He knew Raven wouldn't appreciate it if they were snooping.

"Mmmhmm." A shiver ran through her and she hovered closer to the titan leader as they headed for the staircase. "Friend Raven must be in trouble."

"I'm sure she's fine."

"But the-"

"I'm sure she's fine, Starfire." Robin said, firmly. He mentally counted to ten as he side-stepped the stairs in favor of the elevator, towing the alien girl behind him. When they arrived on the top floor, he took the stairs towards the roof. If there was anywhere that Raven would be, it was probably here.

He knew her routine almost as well as his own. Her morning meditations were more than a ritual, it was an necessary half of her.

* * *

On the top of the Titan Tower, the real Raven sat cross-legged in the usual lotus position, her hood thrown back her eyes closed as she hovered, immersed in her meditations. It was nice and quiet up here, there were no distractions and no annoying green things.

Her eyebrow twitched. No annoying green things was good. Very good.

Something shuffled behind her and Raven mentally pulled herself out of the meditation. It sounded like Robin and that meant that Starfire was probably somewhere behind as the redheaded girl rarely went anywhere without him. She was definitely sure it was Robin, the pacing and weight of his footsteps were familiar and even—just the way she knew they were.

A tiny tick of annoyance registered and she squashed it with a frown, attempting to reclaim the calm she'd had moments before. Robin knew her well enough to know that she'd be on the roof meditating if she wasn't in her room. The frown stayed. That meant that he'd passed by her room. That he'd knocked and she hadn't answered.

_Ugh_. It was the kind of thoughts she didn't want to spare the energy to deal with. A slight tremor rippled through her, she was probably reading too much into it. Her fingers pinched together tighter, forming a stiff circle as she forcibly returned her attention to the mental calm and meditation mantra.

"Raven…?"

Her body remained still, not the slightest hint of acknowledgment anywhere. She was right. It had been Robin and she could hear the faint breathing of Starfire as well.

"You okay?" He continued, moving out onto the roof with Starfire behind him. "We stopped by your room and the door's been knocked down."

Raven's eyes popped open wide and for a moment, uncontrollable laughter bubbled up past her lips and out into the open. She slapped both hands over her mouth, grateful she couldn't see her freaked out teammates. A fierce blush plastered itself across her pale face as she stood up and hurried towards the rooftop door. "Need to be alone."

The words were muttered through her hands and Robin wisely stayed out of reach as she hurried past them. He could feel Starfire peering cautiously over his shoulder, her hand trembling just faintly as if she couldn't believe what she'd just seen—or heard.

Quite frankly, neither could Robin. An awkward silence hung in the air.

Starfire was the first to speak, her voice halting. "Robin, many of your Earthly ways are still strange to me, but that was...just plain freaky. Correct?" She inched out from behind him, still staring at the door where the purple-haired titan had vanished as if she expected Raven to suddenly return and scream at them for hearing her laugh.

"Yeah." Robin swallowed. "Freaky." He patted her hand. He'd never heard Raven laugh like that before. Something was wrong, but it was something that she didn't want help to fix. Something she intended to do alone—again. It was just like her.

_Raven…I wish you wouldn't lock me out…_

_

* * *

_

It took her a half-second to call a portal to life. Raven stepped through, arriving in the hallway of the floor for her bedroom. Stepping out, she approached the door and paused. Robin was right. Someone had knocked the door in. She entered the room, feeling a touch of ease at the familiar surroundings.

With one hand, she waved the door back to where it belonged, her trademark black and white-rimmed energy carrying out the expected order. That was good. One problem fixed. Continuing further in, Raven's methodical inventory list was interrupted as she caught sight of the hand mirror on the floor.

Ice ran through her veins, leaving a chill she hadn't experienced before. "No." The horrified exclamation was heard by no one as she crumpled to her knees beside it.

* * *

**~*~*~*Please Review!~*~*~ More reviews = faster updates. :P **


	5. Distractions

**A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and faves! I really appreciate them-I was so happy to read them this morning. ^_^ Chapter 5 took a bit longer than I expected, mostly 'cause I've been busy since Sunday. *sigh* Break's over and school's started for me. :( I have two major tests this week and two major projects due the following week. Blech. Need the brainpower to focus on classes. I'll update as soon as I possibly can though. This chapter has another 'inserted' scene, so to speak. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. **

**Disclaimer: Yellow raspberries. **

**Robin: That's not a disclaimer. **

**Me: Seriously, yellow raspberries?**

**Robin: They're real. They exist. They taste good. *glare* Say the disclaimer. **

**Me: Mmmm...nope. **

**Robin: *glares threateningly***

**Me: That won't work this time. I don't have any tea.**

**Robin: ...step away from the . **

**Me: I don't own any Teen Titans anything!  
**

* * *

Back in the pink landscape, Cyborg and Beast Boy continued their clueless trek through weirdsville. They were aiming for an arch about mid-way down the dirt pathway and there was no semblance of familiarity in their new surroundings—except for the toothed ravens that were perched atop a few of the pink trees lining the path.

Now that the strange place was settling in, Beast Boy found his fickle temper. His skinny arms were waving in the air to punctuate his words as his skinny feet stomped footprints in the dirt pathway. "She ditched us! I can't believe Raven ditched us! Next time I see her, it's not gonna be pretty." He buried one fist in his open palm.

Cyborg rolled his eye. He didn't bother to say anything to that. He'd just be happy if they could both get out of here and back to the tower. He'd apologize about the door later. Then again, if they ran into Raven again, he made a mental note to deliver the apology then, because it was the best mood he'd ever seen the purple-haired girl in.

The duo strolled beneath the archway and things rippled and fuzzed before the surroundings changed again.

Again.

Back to the starry skies and the floating brown asteroid-rock-things.

Cyborg resisted the urge to punch the ground, his green companion and any other available surfaces. As it was, he had to say something and what came out of his mouth didn't make any sense at all. "Hey, I know where we are! We're in that place where I didn't know where we were before." He fumed, whirling to see the arch they'd just passed under.

It had vanished.

A soft whoosh reached his ears and Cyborg turned in time to see Raven emerging from the ground, clothed in a drab, gray cloak that only added layers to her fearful, sorrowful expression.

Cyborg reached towards the green titan a few seconds too late. Beast Boy exploded. "Where were you? Shopping for robes? You just left us wandering around in we-" His arms waved wildly, calming when the Grey Raven shrank back, bursting into a fountain of tears.

That was the very last reaction either of the titans had expected.

Beast Boy's anger was instantly replaced by panic. "H-hey. Whoa. Easy." The hands began to wave frantically again. He didn't know whether to reach out to her to keep them to himself. He didn't know how to get his point across. He hadn't thought that she'd actually get upset over something like that. "Aw, Raven, I didn't mean it. Please don't cry, I wasn't trying to-"

Cyborg swallowed his own retort and inserted himself between the two to prevent any future spars, verbal or otherwise. "Hey, uh, Raven." The small grey-cloaked girl turned to him with moist eyes. He pointed down the path towards the giant asteroid at the end. They'd actually made some progress now. "That's that Forbidden Door, right, Raven?" She nodded, nervously. He brightened. This day might actually turn out decently if things went back to normal. He bolted towards the last archway. "Come on, y'all! We're almost th-"

There was a faint rumble before a tall wall sprang up from the stone surface.

"Whoa! Take it easy!" Cyborg scrambled backwards as another wall sprouted up to his left and then another to his right. Before he knew it, they were completely boxed in. Something was wrong here.

Beast Boy switched modes, managing to assess the situation in a few seconds. He morphed into a hawk, aiming upwards to acquire a bird's eye view. He'd just barely reached towards the top of the walls when a force field fizzled to life and set him plunging to the ground.

He sat up, his human form returned as he rubbed his head ruefully. "Ow. Great. Now what?" His questioning gaze turned towards Cyborg who was already aiming his cannon at the nearest wall.

"Man, we gotta get outta here!" Cyborg fired off several blasts at the walls, but it didn't even leave a scratch. He ground his teeth together, not daring to say something that might set them off.

It was then that Grey Raven spoke up, her voice quiet and timid. "It's a maze. You can't get out. You have to go through. I can show you the way, but when we reach the end, you won't like me anymore." She cast a glance towards Beast Boy. "He already doesn't like me. Why did I have to be the one to suffer through…"

"Hey, come on. That's not tru-" Beast Boy started to say and then stopped. She'd already started through the maze, leaving the two boys staring after her in a mixture of frustration and irritation. "Gee, Raven, moody much?" He grumbled, starting after her.

"Yeah, she's like a whole different person." Cyborg scratched his head. "What's that all about?" He sighed. "C'mon B, we don't wanna lose her."

"Yeah, yeah." The green titan shuffled along beside him. This was definitely going to take a while.

* * *

It seemed like hours later before the two titans were tromping through the stone maze. Grey Raven's voice floated around the corner as she droned on in a miserable ramble. "And the time I called you both immature pinheads? I'm sorry for that too. And also the-"

Her fellow titans rounded the same corner, with Beast Boy's exasperation spreading to Cyborg. "For the hundredth, millionth time..." He began and Cyborg finished the sentence as they both chorused the same phrase.

"...we forgive you!"

Grey Raven shuffled to a stop at one point in the wall. She gestured faintly towards it and it slid open like a two puzzle pieces falling apart. Just outside the newly revealed entrance, there were two giant stone statutes positioned to each side, wearing familiar cloaks and masks similar to those displayed in Raven's bedroom.

Fearsome sets of four eyes accented by either a smile or a frown.

Each statue possessed a single arm, angled towards the closest wall. Grey Raven solemnly pointed, with a touch more confidence than before. "That's the end." Her voice dropped three tones lower, becoming softer and more wispy. "Just like I said."

"Sweet!" Beast Boy pumped his fist in the air, giving a happy hop.

"All right, Raven!

The comedy duo bolted for the exit, only to notice that Grey Raven made no attempt to follow them. In the time it took this to register, Cyborg had barely turned back to her only to hear a rustle at the exit. He jerked around in time to see the two statues halved and advancing forward. In a whirl of dust, the two halves slammed together, back to back, forming a two-faced statue that surged forward as long swords materialized in each hand. One pair of arms grew to two, as the fearsome statue now bore a total of four.

Cyborg swallowed hard. "W-what?"

"No way." Beast Boy stared. "No way, dude!"

"Told you that you wouldn't like me when we got here." Grey Raven murmured. She looked as if she ought to say something more and then shut her mouth, melting into the maze's shadowy background as the two boys' attention were drawn elsewhere.

Cyborg groaned, beginning to ready his sonic cannon. The giant stone statue was marching towards them. Things were about to get weirder.

* * *

A stream of gibberish danced across the television screen as a screaming man ran for his life, a slimy green monster gurgling after him. There was a flicker of static as the boy wonder changed the channel—yet again. His mind was tuned out to the sound, even as he could hear the words faintly in the background.

He was trying to keep his mind focused, but the steady pacing of the alien princess behind him was becoming extremely distracting. It was hard to try and follow Raven's line of logic when all he could hear was the constant clump of Starfire's trademark hip-length boots.

A sigh was stifled in his throat. He wondered why she wasn't flying back and forth, or rather, at least floating, but when that thought settled, Robin realized that it would probably make the situation even worse. He didn't want to sit still, not after seeing Raven's reaction to their news, but Starfire was doing enough worrying for the both of them.

Sort of. Kind of.

Robin gripped the TV remote a little tighter. He couldn't afford to be thinking in circles when his top-notch deduction skills should be showing their true worth.

Another sigh bubbled in his throat and he stabbed a rubber button again, grateful for the momentary distraction from the changing pixels on the screen. His interest was caught as a title flared across the screen. It looked like a double feature—a spaghetti western—he hadn't seen one of those for a while.

Starfire's head popped over the sofa's armrest. "May we go see if she is feeling better?"

Robin was grateful for the mask over his face. It would hide his frustration, irritation and slowly dissolving patience. He answered as calmly as he could. "She said she wanted to be alone."

"But friend Raven was most certainly not okay!"

"We need to respect her wishes."

"But what if something is very wrong?"

The TV clicked off and Robin scratched his head. He knew from experience that a conversation with Starfire in this sort of mode almost always meant they'd be talking in circles for some time. He did not have the patience for that. His brain scrambled for a suitable excuse that would make some sense for the redheaded girl without somehow detracting from the dark empath. "If there was something wrong, she would have said so."

"But Robin, what if she could not say anything?"

He rose from the sofa, with an air of calmness that did not betray his true feelings. Staying in the Titan Tower was probably not the best of ideas, at least, not in terms of distracting Starfire. His gaze flickered briefly around the room. He needed to get her somewhere else fast. The sooner she was otherwise occupied, the sooner he'd be able to puzzle through the entire Raven situation.

There was absolutely no way he was going to interfere unless it was absolutely necessary. Raven wouldn't appreciate it. At this moment, he wasn't sure that he could stand to be on her dark side. It didn't seem like a very good side to be on at all.

The image of Beast Boy's tofu-splattered visage popped into his head. A suppressed shudder threatened to break free. Robin vaulted over the sofa and caught Starfire's hand as he headed for the door. Shopping. That was always a good way to distract a girl.

He was downtown before he realized that the last place he wanted to be was waltzing through a department store in full hero regalia. That thought registered much later than he wanted. But the boy wonder was a wonder when thinking on his feet so he compromised instead, towing the redhead towards a discount grocery store.

"Robin?" Starfire was floating quite willingly behind him, her expressive face mirroring her confusion and wonder. "To where are we going? We should not leave Raven alone when she could be in terrible distress and-"

"I think we're out of milk…and eggs." Robin heard himself say, pulling her through the old, automatic doors. He grabbed a plastic basket from a metal stand, releasing Starfire.

"Eggs?" She cocked her head to the side. "Milk? Robin, I do not understand what-"

"We're probably out of snacks too." Robin started towards the produce section, deliberately ignoring the admiring stares from surrounding patrons. That was one reason he hated doing normal errands in costume. The whispers filling the air as he walked past caused his jaw to tighten, his mouth forming a thin line.

* * *

Starfire watched the changes overtake her friend as he snatched a plastic basket from the metal stand beside the shopping carts. She would have much preferred to use a metal shopping cart, but it wouldn't have been polite to interrupt Robin's deep thinking to mention such a trivial preference.

After all, he had interrupted his own afternoon to take her out to the down of town so they could purchase more food supplies. Her thick red eyebrows knitted themselves together in confusion as she floated off behind him towards the produce section. He was always careful to by fresh fruits and vegetables to add to his power smoothies. Personally, Starfire preferred to consume the cream of ice rather than putting it in the blender with the fruit and veggie concoction.

She watched him moving stiffly and awkwardly—to her. He was definitely thinking very deep thoughts. She wondered if he realized how obvious it was. But, as if on cue, he relaxed. Almost like she'd pressed an invisible button, he relaxed, slinging the plastic basket in the crook of his elbow and examining a tray of funny red fruits.

There must have been a question mark on her face, because he mumbled "Strawberries" as he placed the tray in the bottom of the basket. She hovered halfway around to catch a better glimpse of his face. It was hard to tell exactly how he was feeling now.

Another plastic tray of fruit joined the strawberries in the basket. "Robin?" She tried.

"Blueberries." He answered, more out of habit than in response to her question.

"Robin."

"Blackberries."

"Robin?" She watched as he selected another plastic container of fruit. For a moment, she wondered if he was going to cook dinner. A shiver ran through her. The protein smoothies he made were strangely difficult to stomach. Nowhere near as delightful as the delicious mustard drink that she was so fond of.

But he was ignoring her.

And Raven was still back at the Titan Tower and possibly in great distress. Starfire shook her head. She simply could not take that a moment longer. _How could Robin calmly shop for fruits at a time like this?_

* * *

Robin mechanically stacked another plastic container of fruit in the plastic shopping basket. He wasn't entirely all there. His mind was wandering and he wasn't liking the train of thought he'd bought tickets for. He was inspecting a selection of yellow raspberries when one particular thought stabbed him in the stomach.

_I bet food shopping with Raven is fun._

He swallowed.

He'd never thought of that. Cyborg was the one who did most of the cooking at the tower, mostly because the big guy liked experimenting in the kitchen and could accurately follow any recipe given. Beast Boy's vegetarian efforts came into play when Cyborg needed a little downtime.

Now that he thought about it, Robin realized that at one point or another, he'd gone grocery shopping with nearly all of them.

Everyone except Raven.

His hand clenched tight around a green, granny smith apple. The color bothered him. It was the same shade of Starfire's emerald eyes and too bright for Raven's dark aura. He turned away from the apple display, angling towards the back and the dairy cases.

"Milk and eggs." He parroted.

A carton of milk and a dozen eggs added themselves to the basket as he paused in front of the flavored creamers, wondering which one he ought to try this time.

But his mind refused to cooperate there.

It was still stuck on the thought of Raven in a normal grocery store. She probably wouldn't scare anyone, even with the dark hood of her cloak up and those piercing lilac eyes. He could imagine that it would be easier in one way, at least he wouldn't have to explain much of anything.

He wouldn't have to announce every item that went into the basket.

There was a slender hand on his shoulder, drawing him out of his thoughts and to the present, a dingy aisle in the back of a discount grocery store.

"Robin?"

"Yes, Starfire?"

"Are you not feeling well?"

"…" He opened the cooler case and grabbed one of the creamer cartons. "I'm fine. We should get back to the tower."

"Yes, yes. I agree. We should not have left and-"

A flicker of black caught Robin's eye and he turned, ever so slightly, to see a masked man bursting through the store front, with two friends right behind him, guns waving wildly in the air. He scowled, shifting the weight on his arm. He'd have to deal with it before things got out of hand. Before there was a hostage situation. Before he was tempted to do more than throw a few good punches. He could feel the adrenaline streaking through his veins. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad idea to get out of the titan tower for a bit.

"Robin?" Starfire's nose twitched. "Are you perhaps thinking deep thoughts?"

He nearly choked.

"Of something that is of the very greatest importance? You have been most-"

The boy wonder merely thrust the basket into her surprised arms. "Hold this." He flashed a smile. "Speed checkout at counter 9…I'll be right out." He whipped out a birdarang, eyes narrowing. "Someone call for a clean up in the main lobby?"

His authorative voice drew their attention at once and chaos erupted amongst the unorganized would-be robbers. There were shouts and yells, followed by a nervous squeak of "It's Robin! The Teen Titans are here. Shoot them!"

_Idiot robbers. Stupid robbers. _

They'd picked a bad day to rob a convenience store and an equally bad day to try and shoot him. Robin dodged easily to the side, knowing Starfire was well out of the way. He cracked his knuckles.

This was starting to become a very long day.

* * *

**~*~*~*Please review! I love hearing what you have to say. ^_^ ~*~*~***


	6. Secrets

**A/N: And here's chapter six! This one was fun to wrap up the shopping scene and to include a little bit of Raven before she dived into her own head. Heehee. Also, based on my rate of writing and the episode, I think maybe two more chapters are left. Maybe three, at most. Depends. You'll just have to wait and see. ^_^ LOL. Thanks for all the reviews and faves. I really, really love knowing that y'all are enjoying the story. **

**Disclaimer: *humming* La de da, it goes around the world...**

**Robin: ...**

**Me: What? **

**Robin: ...**

**Me: Really? No comment? No insults...no nothing? **

**Robin: ...**

**Me: Wow. I'm impressed. **

**Robin: ...**

**Me: Seriously impressed. **

**Robin: Not impressed enough to say the stupid disclaimer. **

**Me: Ha! You said stupid. **

**Robin: ...**

**Me: ...**

**Robin: Really? **

**Me: Fine. I don't own any teen titans anything. ...Robin? This doesn't mean you won...idiot. :P  
**

* * *

Starfire patiently waited on the sidewalk as Robin signed paperwork given by the local police. He nodded again, motioning with one hand towards the storefront, while signing off on the papers proffered by another rookie cop. She could tell that the little skirmish had helped to take the edge off of his nervous tic.

He'd been on edge ever since the episode with Raven last night. Starfire sighed. She wanted to get back to the titan tower—quick. Thinking about Raven made her worry and worrying was not something that she did very well. She shifted the load of groceries to her other hand. They weren't really heavy, but she hated having an uneven number of bags to carry.

Of course, that problem would be solved when Robin returned to her side, because the gentleman inside of him would insist on helping her carry them, regardless of her alien strength. She sighed. It would be easier to just grab him and the bags and fly back to the tower.

Faster too.

Another sigh escaped as Starfire darted another glance over towards the cops. It looked as if they were almost done. She'd love to fly on ahead, but knowing Robin, their impromptu grocery trip had probably been some sort of distraction on his part. Her lips pursed. _Distraction for me or him?_ She mused.

A cursory glance went back towards the filled plastic sacks and Starfire realized that he'd bought ingredients for breakfast. She smiled. While breakfast hadn't been necessary good or bad, she'd noted that Raven hadn't eaten anything at all.

Maybe she didn't like fake meats and milks. Her friend's bored voice echoed in her mind in response to one of Beast Boy's prompts._ "I respect that you don't eat meat, please respect that I don't eat fake meat."_

Her smile faded. Now she really was worrying.

_Robin…._

_

* * *

_

"Starfire?" Robin was standing in front of her, frowning. "Are you okay?"

The redhead blinked in confusion for a moment. Then her green eyes grew wide. "Robin!" His name came out as an exclamation. "We should check on friend Raven."

"Huh?" Robin failed to make the coherent connection between her lack of attention the robbers he'd just turned over to the police. Unfortunately, he didn't have a chance to puzzle through that, because without warning, Starfire grabbed one arm and shot straight up into the air.

His groan was muffled in the wind as she whizzed through the air, aiming for the titan tower. His head pounded with the first traces of a headache and his vision swam when he realized that the lack of adrenaline made the ride a little more real than usual.

But by the time he'd thought that far, they'd arrived and Starfire plummeted to an abrupt halt. He landed—just barely—relieved to note that she'd taken good care of the groceries throughout the quick flight. He was reaching for them just as she thrust them into his arms. "Here. You may enjoy the task of discovering where to put these food items. I must check on Raven."

Robin juggled the bags, stepping into the entryway right behind her. "Uh, just a minute. I'll come with you. Let me put these away first."

"Make them wait." She bit her lip. "Raven may be in great distress. I shall never be among the bestest of friends if I cannot-" The rest of her sentence trailed off in a mash of unintelligible gibberish.

Robin swallowed hard. "Right. As soon as I put this away, we can go together."

"But Robin-!"

"I'm worried about her too." He interrupted, a touch of firmness returning to his voice. "We both are. But Raven asked to be alone for a bit. We need to respect that."

"But I have been respecting and respecting!" Starfire threw her hands up in the air, beginning to float. "And the worrying is not stopping. I am not so sure if this respecting is good for her!"

"For her or you?" Robin returned, wryly.

"Robin!"

"Just a minute." He started towards the kitchen, pausing deliberately halfway down the hall to turn and see if she was following him. "We'll go as soon as I put these away. I could use your help."_ And Raven could use the extra minutes of quiet._

With an obvious pout, the floating princess followed.

* * *

Inside her room, Raven cycled through the whole gamut of emotions. She couldn't settle on a single one—coherently. This was wrong. This was horrible. This was absolutely terrible.

She resisted the urge to grab her head and pull the short strands of hair. That would only result in a greater headache than she already had and that wasn't the desired result. The option that was right before her wasn't the one she wanted to take, in fact, it was the very last thing that she wanted to do.

It was for that reason, that she knew it was the right thing to do. Checking the rest of her room with a quick, cursory glance, she snatched the mirror off the ground and squeezed her eyes shut, holding it at arm's length. It was probably a good idea to stall them, wherever they were.

Her mind whirled, attempting to keep up with the fluctuations in her emotions and the realities at her fingertips. It was bad enough that Robin had witnessed her loss in control and even worse that Starfire had been there with him. She only hoped that they would at least listen to her request and stay away.

Stay very far away.

Raven licked her lips.

Knowing Starfire, the curious alien would probably find some way to hound or interrupt her and if Robin was worth his salt at all, he'd at least attempt to stall her. That much, she could count on and for that reason, she retreated to her bed. That meant she might just have enough time to get the two idiots in her head—out—and also tie up the matter that resulted in a fried villain the night before.

She took a calming breath and released it. Then another and counted the beats of her heart in relation to the timing of her single breath. That was good. She was calming just a little bit.

Until she realized that her newest bundle of emotions were also in the same realm as Cyborg and Beast Boy. The fear returned in full force.

_Robin._

It slammed into her chest with a painful ache and she desperately tried to push it away. Now was not the time to deal with that. She couldn't deal with that. There was something more important at hand.

_Robin_. His image hovered in her mind's eye, vibrant and cheerful as ever.

She swallowed hard. If Beast Boy were to stumble into that bit of information, she'd never forgive him—or herself. Her empty hand clenched into a fist. She'd get him out of her head at any cost—and keep him far away from her secrets.

Her eyes opened and without another thought, Raven brought the hand mirror up to her face and stared straight into her own stoic reflection.

The hand reached out and fastened around her face, sucking her into her mind's realm.

She didn't resist.

* * *

The fight with the creepy stone giant wasn't faring as well as Cyborg had hoped. In fact, his sonic cannon didn't seem to have the slightest effect on it and Beast Boy was already caught in one of its hands, struggling to get free to the point where he'd been forced to give up his hawk-morph and return to human form.

This was bad.

This was very bad.

"Yo! Eight-Eyes! Over here!" A new voice, cocky and determined cut through the battle sounds. In a blur of forest green, Raven streaked through the air in a flying kick that slashed the statue's head off. "Hai-yah! Alright!" She whooped. "Whoo-hoo! In your faces! Take that you little-!"

In a constant blur of motion and insults, Green Raven leapt at her opponent with practiced grace. She dodged the sword slashes one after the other and danced around the creature with the ease of an expert. With one sudden movement, she sprang up into the air with her index and middle fingers extended and drew a straight line down the length of the stone giant.

There was smoke and dust streaming from the traced point and without warning, the statue broke apart in two neatly cloven halves. Green Raven gave a little hop and turned to her fellow titans with a wide grin on her face. "Hoo-ah! High fives! Come on everybody!"

Cyborg and Beast Boy were nearly exact replicas of each other in the dropped jaws and disbelieving expressions. Neither of them could move or speak for a moment. On the tree beside the pathway were several red-eyed ravens. Their spooky presence did little to improve the situation.

Beast Boy continued to stare, his jaw slack until he shook his head to clear it. He didn't know what to make of this latest development. There wasn't a logical answer to any of this. "What is your deal?" He exploded. "First you nuke breakfast, finally laugh at my jokes, then you're all weepy, and now you're a Marine? Make up your mind. Who are you?"

Green Raven stared at him in puzzlement. Pink Raven materialized beside her as Grey Raven crept over to join the party. They spoke as one in answer. "I'm Raven."

Beast Boy chose that moment to faint beautifully.

Cyborg's mind was already whirring away at the maximum capacity. "Happy, timid and brave." He mumbled to himself.

Pink Raven snorted, bursting into laughter as she pointed to a newly revived Beast Boy. "You forgot dopey."

"I got it." Cyborg said, in wonder. "Different sides of Raven's personality. We're not in Raven's home…" He turned to the green boy in a mixture of horror and amazement.

The morphing titan finally connected the same dots. "We're in her head!" He squeaked.

"And I want you out!" The three duplicates melted away as the real Raven dropped down from ceiling, landing in a neat crouch and surging back up to her full height. Her face held the usual dark expression and she was clothed in the familiar blue-purple cloak that was her trademark. "The mirror you found is for meditation. It's a portal into my MIND-NOT A TOY!" She growled out the last words at Beast Boy, forcing them through gritted teeth.

He gave a nervous laugh and backed away. "Ha. My bad."

Cyborg nudged him. "Apologize." He muttered.

"What, now?" Beast Boy's eyes grew wide. "Hey!"

"My bad?" Raven sputtered. She wasn't even listening to their banter. Her temper was sparking dangerously. She didn't even want to know how they'd gotten into her room, much less gotten hold of the mirror. As soon as she had them out of her head and out of her room, she'd double-no-triple the security measures she usually had. That would fix everything. "Beast Boy-!"

There was a sudden commotion as the spooky ravens suddenly took to flight filled with loud squawks and awkward, frantic wingbeats as they attempted to leave.

Raven's head snapped towards the tree and then the realization of what it meant. Her face blanked and for a moment, there was nothing, but fear etched into her face before that disappeared as well. The timing was absolutely horrible. She whirled to face her fellow teammates. "You have to go-now!"

Cyborg blinked. He was in mid-persuasion of convincing Beast Boy to apologize to the irate girl. "What? Hold up, Rae. What's going on here? You okay?" He shifted, casting a glance between her face and then behind them where the red-eyed birds had vanished.

She refused to meet his gaze, avoiding his pointed look expertly. "I can't…you wouldn't understand. Just go. You need to get out of here now. Both of you."

"Raven." The gentleness had dropped from his voice. He wasn't asking nicely now.

Impatiently she scowled at him. "Last night, something...got loose. Something bad." She swallowed. "Really bad. You don't need to be involved. This is my problem. I'll deal with it. Get out. Both of you!"

"Something bad?" Cyborg repeated, processing the way she said it and the way she'd managed to also effectively skirt the question.

"Yeah. It got loose. Now-"

Beast Boy broke in. "Oh, no, you don't!" He demanded, his arms waving angrily in the air. "I've had it with this mystery-girl routine. I want to know exactly what we're talking about here. You're always-"

He was interrupted as a loud roar rent through the air of Raven's mindscape. A giant black vortex had spiraled over the horizon and the red-eyed ravens flew into it. Within seconds the vortex spiraled down to reveal a giant sized humanoid creature, male, with red, mottled skin and flowing white hair. Four glowing yellow eyes were set in its head and he wore a black and grey loincloth, metal-like wristbands and a belt vaguely similar to the one that Raven wore, as well as an equally familiar gem in the center of his forehead. The belt was silver, set with black stones and a matching miniature around his throat was reminiscent of Raven's broach. There were short curved black strips along his arms and chest, adding to its animalistic appearance in addition to the shin guards on both legs.

Raven swallowed her words and pushed her emotions away. It was a little harder to do that when they were so obviously before her and so powerful when up close in her mind. But now was not the time to deal with that.

"Hatred shall rule!" The creature roared.

Cyborg stared in horror. He knew that voice. He'd heard it last night. He cast a worried glance to Raven and then to Beast Boy. The green fellow had just made the same connection. He was backing up behind them. Raven seemed to be taking it in stride. "Raven?" He asked, softly.

Her scowl deepened. "Let's just say I have issues with my father."

"That's it?" Beast Boy choked out.

Cyborg blinked at that new bit of information. Then it sank in. "That's your father?"

"Quiet!" She hissed, whirling on them both. "What were you expecting? The happy version?" There was a new layer of darkness in the pain that flickered across her face. "Now what part of get out, you don't understand?" She gave a jerk of her head towards the far end of the pathway.

The forbidden door was in sight, obstacle free.

"Raven…" Beast Boy had calmed down and now his voice mirrored the torn expression on his face. He didn't know how to handle this at all. "I-we-"

"Raven-" Cyborg tried.

"Just get out and leave me alone!" Raven shot back, her head snapping up as her eyes flared red, briefly, then white, before fading to their usual lilac hue. "Really." She turned away, hands fisted at her sides. "This is between me and him. Don't interfere."

Cyborg frowned. He could listen to her, maybe. But the look on her face was something he'd never seen before. But he'd heard that tone before. It was the same tone she'd had when they'd run into each other after the whole Mr. Fixit episode. No way was he gonna let her handle this on his own. His sonic cannon readied itself. For once, now he could understand why Robin tried so hard to be mindful of her. He found himself mentally wishing he hadn't had to see that haunting expression on her face.

Ever.

No way was he going to stand by and do nothing.

* * *

**~*~*~*Please Review! More reviews = Faster updates and I love hearing from ya!~*~*~ ^_^**

**A/N: There have been errors on the site. I've been able to get this to work-I think. If this goes through. It worked. :P  
**


	7. Stop Start Fight!

**A/N: Whew! This chapter took a lot longer than I expected. It's a bit tricky to try to write Trigon in action-from different POV's. I hope the action spots came out alright. Cyborg gets a bit of 'screen time' in this one. I hope y'all enjoy it. Also, a shameless plug for my newest RaeRob fic, "The Robin and The Raven" is a set of oneshot/drabble/flash fiction bits from one-word prompts. Stop by and check it out if you need some RxR to tide you over until the next you all for the wonderful reviews and favs, it totally made my week!  
**

**Disclaimer: The upload function is working again!**

**Robin: ... That's a disclaimer? **

**Me: Yup-yup. **

**Robin: ...**

**Me: Aw, c'mon, stop it. I know you're happy. You couldn't wait for this chapter to be uploaded. **

**Robin: SHUT UP!**

**Me: Are you blushing? **

**Robin: *birdarang***

**Me: Seriously? Wow... **

**Robin: *throws* **

**Me: OW! I don't own any Teen Titans anything.  
**

* * *

"Are we done yet, Robin?" Starfire floated beside the kitchen counter, her gaze wandering idly to Raven's beloved coffeepot, her usual hot water supply. She was seeing a replay of the scene earlier in the morning and her forehead scrunched into a pucker as she tucked her legs up under her in mid-hover, twisting to see the boy wonder slowly stocking groceries in their pantry.

"Almost." Robin said, moving with all deliberate slowness.

"Why are you not commencing in the hurrying of the grocery stocking?" The redhead twisted her hands into a knot. "Perhaps I should be checking on Raven and you can-"

"This would go a lot faster if you helped." Robin hinted, making no effort to hurry at all. "I'll be done just now. We'll both go. I'm sure Raven is fine."

Starfire opened her mouth to protest again, only to catch the faintest twitch at the corner of Robin's masked eyes. He was trying to be patient with her. She pouted. She knew that kind of feeling when it was right in front of her. Sighing, she floated over to hold open the plastic grocery sack so he could continue stocking miniature baggies of junk food.

* * *

"Beast Boy?" Cyborg growled. It was more of a statement to be acknowledged than a question to be answered. He wanted to be sure they were all on the same page. He was rewarded with a look from the younger boy—one filled with determination and focus. That was good. They were in agreement then.

"Ready." The green boy hunched his shoulders forward, settling his weight in his feet to sprint quickly, if necessary.

"What are you doing?" Raven snuck a glance at them, keeping a wary eye on her father. She didn't really care at that moment. She wanted them out. She wanted to be out. She didn't want anyone here. She didn't want to be there. She didn't want to deal with—not now.

_Trigon._

There was a dull ache in the pit of her stomach as his name echoed in her head. _Idiot demon father_. Her hands clenched tight at her sides as she mentally pushed away the reality of Beast Boy and Cyborg standing beside her. She could not get them involved in this. It was her mess, her problem, her demon to deal with—in more ways than one.

Trigon threw his head back, roaring loudly. A loud, rumbling, sound that made the mindscape shudder, collectively. Cyborg and Beast Boy stumbled back a few steps, already about to run, until they realized that Raven hadn't even blinked.

She stood tall, fearless—it seemed, unfazed by the animalistic growl that followed.

The four eyes in the red creature's head narrowed to points and blast of yellow-gold energy shot towards the purple-cloaked empath. Raven grimaced, flexing her legs and jumping clear of the beam. With another roar, Trigon turned towards Cyborg and Beast Boy stomping down the path towards them.

* * *

The duo broke into a run as they caught sight of a flicker of light flared up at the end of the pathway. The forbidden portal. Set in the base of a jagged, brown rock formation, swirls of red and white energy spiraled in the center, denoting the portal's significance. Raven's powers were always black and white or white on black, the red and white energy shimmers held a different meaning now.

Cyborg skidded to a stop, the adrenaline catching up to his automatic response. Running wasn't going to solve anything and he did not want to leave Raven on her own—not with that crazy creature running rampant in her mind. If it was her father, that spoke volumes for the darkened girl. Another mystery to be puzzled later. Cyborg reached out, catching Beast Boy by the scruff of his neck as the green boy streaked past.

His timing was excellent, because a yellow-golden energy blast pounded into the ground just before the portal—exactly where they'd have been moments ago, if Cyborg hadn't stopped. Beast Boy gulped, a prickling shudder racing through his body. He made no move to get free from Cyborg's iron grip.

Raven's cool, clear voice sliced through the fading dust. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" A giant black tinged-dome of energy sprang to life around her and her fellow teammates, shielding them all and the forbidden portal.

Trigon heaved another blast of energy towards the trio, tearing up brown rock and dust, littering the mindscape as the beam rushed towards Raven's black energy dome. The sound of impact was muffled and then explosion was ground-breaking.

"Raven!" Cyborg lurched forward, dropping Beast Boy.

The green boy landed with a half-plop on the ground, rubbing his throat where the fabric had cut into his neck. He scowled, briefly, turning to watch. Cyborg approached the hyper-focused Raven, careful not to touch her as the black energy poured richly from her hands.

They could all feel the tremendous power literally spilling out of the empath as she narrowed her focus to maintain the shield that protected them all. Her hair swirled up behind her, the dark cloak flaring out in the faint rush of wind. It was taking a significant portion of her mental concentration to keep the shield up—and her mind empty enough to process the fact that she needed to get the two boys behind her—out of her head.

"Raven?"

"Go." Her voice was cold as ice and every bit as frozen. "Get out!"

"And leave you with this?" Cyborg frowned. "I don't think so, Rae." He folded his arms across his chest. This was not the time nor the place to be having this kind of a conversation, but he wasn't about to leave either. If Raven wanted to dance around the topic, fine, he'd let her, but he would not abandon her.

Not in the middle of something like this.

Another primal roar ripped through the mindscape and Cyborg's arms dropped back to his side as he half-crouched, maintaining his balance. He cast a glance at Beast Boy who had fallen back to the ground with a huff, his mouth twisted into a pout.

"Beast Boy?"

"I'm fine." There was a touch of whine in his voice.

"Good." Cyborg readied his cannon. "Ready?"

* * *

Robin shut the cupboard doors and took the empty plastic baggies from Starfire's outstretched hands. He carried them to the fabric grocery bag holder, stuffing them inside to be recycled later. He took his time, stuffing each individual bag into the narrow opening.

Starfire twirled a few impatient circles behind him.

"Done." He mumbled, turning, careful to keep his arms set at his sides. He was not going to give the alien princess another chance to grab him and zip through the titan tower. He'd already had enough rides like that for the day.

"Wonderful!" Starfire cheered, but her voice was flat. She'd begun to pick up on something and she didn't like that something at all. "Let us go on now, yes?"

"S-ure." Robin turned with a steady smile, he trotted out of the kitchen and immediately detoured towards the left, heading for the control center.

"Robin?" Starfire said, uncertainly. She hovered in the hallway, casting a glance to her right—the shortest way to reach the titan floors with their individual bedrooms. Biting her lip, she zipped after him. Maybe she'd been mistaking a few things and something was wrong.

Something she hadn't thought to think about.

* * *

In the command center, Robin fiddled with the camera controls and checked all the radio frequencies for distress calls. He was partially relived and disappointed to discover that everything was fine. It was good to know that he wouldn't have to disturb Raven for the sake of a mission call and disappointing that there wasn't much else he could do to stall—without being obvious.

"Robin." Starfire was frowning at him, her skinny arms crossed over her slender chest. There was a flicker of green fire in her bright jewel-green eyes. "Is something the matter?"

"Thankfully, no." He managed, one hand lingering on the camera controls.

"May we now go see if Raven is better?"

"She wants to be alone."

"But-"

"I know." Robin sighed, the hand now moving to his forehead. "I know, Starfire." He turned towards the door.

"Robin?" Her voice softened. "Are you okay?"

He made himself smile, faintly. "Sure."

Starfire ignored his little lie. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing. All coasts are clear." He kept the smile up for a half-second longer. "Say, I haven't seen Cyborg or Beast Boy…"

Starfire wrinkled her nose. "Beast Boy most definitely needs to apologize to Raven." Her brow furrowed in thought as she quickly reasoned through the possible scenarios. "Perhaps we should—no." She shook her head, quickly. "We must check on Raven first." There was a decisive nod of her head. "May we go now, Robin…please?"

But Robin was already out the door and shuffling down the hallway at a leisurely pace. He hid a smile as Starfire zipped over to hover by his side. She was practically quivering in her impatience to hurry him along, but her nervous hands were twisting and fisting beneath her chin, so she made no move to grab him and drag him onward.

Inwardly, he was glad, it would give him some time to think of another distraction. Raven deserved some silence just like when he wanted to work out alone-with no interference. They kind of owed it to her. _Sorry, Raven. I hope the extra minutes of silence were helpful..._

* * *

"Get out of my mind, now!" Raven hissed. She'd caught sight of Cyborg's stance before the last mini-quake. There was no way they were going to have any kind of coherent conversation at a time like this. Definitely not at a time like this.

She struggled to hold the barrier up as her concentration wavered. "You don't have much time. You need to go now. Both of you!" She bit her lip, drawing blood and using the metallic, tangy taste to force herself to focus.

"No way." Beast Boy took up a flanking position to her left as Cyborg settled in at her right. "Leave you alone with that?" He repeated Cyborg's earlier exclamation. "I don't think so."

"He's right. I agree." Cyborg smirked. "Not gonna happen."

A flicker of annoyance filtered through her pale face, but Raven couldn't scowl at both of them in their respective positions at the same time. "It's my problem. I'll deal with it." A tremor rippled through the black energy dome. The new emotions sprouting from this recent development were too raw to be processed. Raven desperately wished she were alone. This was not right and it was not fair. They may have been trying to be nice or polite or just plain friendly, but they had no idea what they were saying.

No idea what they were getting into.

No time to properly explain it either.

She gritted her teeth against the impact of another energy blast. The faint quiver than ran through her hid the initial shudder that passed through at the thought of having two teammates locked in her head—even after death. She didn't want to think about that at all. She had make them leave. Had to convince them. This was her battle—not theirs.

"If I lose, you'll be stuck in here forever." There was a deadly calm laced through her voice, the ice remaining. "This is not a game. This is serious. I don't want you involved."

"Ouch." Beast Boy snorted. "Think that's gonna scar." He ducked his head at a timely glare from Cyborg.

"You made us involved the moment you did this." Cyborg gestured towards the dome. He'd once thought that self-sacrificing nature was some sort of fluke he'd witnessed before, but now he was seeing it in full force before him. She was willing to suffer—alone and silently—not only for herself, but for their sakes'.

As if he'd let her shoulder that kind of burden.

"We're here to-"

An anguished moan left her lips as Raven's dome shook and streaked apart at the impact from one giant bolt of energy. The dome melted away completely, sweeping up a tremendous swirl of dust to hide the damage. Raven stood, braced, her arms crossed to protect her head. She coughed into her shoulder, throwing one hand behind her with a whiplash of black-white energy.

"Go!" She couldn't take this anymore. She needed them out and away from here—even if only so that she could focus. The wide sweep of energy caught them both full in the stomachs, flinching as they were flung the short distance to the mouth of the forbidden portal.

* * *

Cyborg landed awkwardly, bracing himself out of habit as Beast Boy slammed into him, skinny arms and legs in a tangled heap. The look on his face was equal to the faint puffs of steam seeming to shoot from his ears as the animal morpher leapt to his feet.

"Cyborg…"

"Chill, BB." Cyborg cast a glance at the swirling portal. Then he turned away.

Raven had shot into the air, hovering at face-level as she dodged and fired bolts of energy at the rampaging creature. It tried to swat her, bulky muscled arms swinging awkwardly in some attempt to stop her. It was more difficult than it looked because Raven's face screamed of the concentration it took to focus and fight.

Cyborg and Beast Boy stood up and exchanged a glance. Beast Boy grinned and Cyborg smirked. They both dashed forward.

* * *

Raven dodged several attempts to crush her between the clumsy red hands, managing to fire a bolt of black energy at his chest. She streaked behind his head, her mind whirling to keep up with the necessary calculations to keep the upper hand. If nothing else, she needed to distract him long enough for Cyborg and Beast Boy to get out—then, whatever happened afterward—could happen. It would be two less regrets to take with her.

Her split-second decision registered a half-second too late. She'd cut too closely behind him and while he might've been unable to track her movements before, the change in the wind's direction was a dead giveaway. Pure fear registered as he turned.

She saw his movements in slow-motion as he powered up and shot a crushing beam at point-blank range. There was no time to react. There was no way to react. Her practiced calm and concentration was effectively shattered as instinct took over and she shrank back, arms crossing to shield her face and head.

Blackness came for her in a vicious way as her consciousness burned into nothing.

* * *

Cyborg watched, helplessly as the golden bolt sheared through the air and consumed the empath. It left a coiling, twisting feeling of sickness in his gut. He found his legs moving, running forward as fast as he could. He sensed Beast boy behind him, falling into stride.

The red creature bellowed and roared, forming actual words in its raspy, tortured voice. "Rage shall consume you! Hatred shall rule. Darkness shall descend in-"

That was the last straw.

Cyborg vaulted to the highest rock formation on a nearby mountain of brown rock. He was glad to note that it was close to shoulder level with the creature. That was good. His cannon hummed to life as he braced, aiming with knowledge of the practice behind him. "Yo! Monster-face." The creature blinked in confusion. "Sounds like somebody needs a time-out."

He fired.

The blast was blocked when the creature raised a forearm for shield, leaving his chest wide open.

Cyborg's smirk darkened by several degrees as he fired a second sonic blast to the newly revealed opening. Boo-yah He mentally resisted the urge to pump his fist in the air.

The creature stumbled backwards, clumsy in all its movements before the hand clutching Raven slackened. It tumbled off the edge of the brown stone pathway formation and into the empty, dark mindspace below.

Raven plummeted to the ground, her hair streaming out and cloak fluttering madly.

A green hawk swooped downwards, diving with equal speed, powerful talons closing on one blue-purple cloaked shoulder, attempting to slow her descent. There was the faintest, quietest moan that came from pale-almost lavender lips as Hawk-Beast Boy set her down gently, resuming his human form as Raven crumpled to her knees.

Her eyelids fluttered open and there was a strained expression on her face, one that could not quite be read. Her mouth moved and a surprising sentence came out. "Beast Boy? Cyborg? You stayed. I thought you didn't like me." She coughed.

Beast Boy grinned impishly. "Thought you didn't like me." He countered.

She smiled, faintly.

"Yo, I like both of you." Cyborg cut into the moment. "Now get your butts over here!" He turned back to the matter at hand. The red thing was already rising over the ridge behind him. He glowered at it.

"Feel my fury!" It roared.

Cyborg merely braced himself. _Feel mine._

* * *

**~*~*~*Please review! ~*~*~* Thanks for reading! **


	8. Final Showdown

**A/N: Yay! Here's the second to last chapter. Whoo hoo! I've finally got it about done. LOL. Just one more chappy and that will be the one with the "extended ending to it" Thank you for all the reviews and favs, I appreciate it-it has been a great motivator in getting this fic done in the midst of my ridiculous school life. I hope you enjoy the read! Oh-and one reason this fic has been kinda accurate is because Nevermore was one of my fave episodes and I was pretty obsessed with Teen Titans in my tween years. ~_^ Cheers!  
**

**Disclaimer: I'm almost done!  
**

**Robin: That is not a disclaimer: **

**Me: Rawr. So sue me.**

**Robin: I will. **

**Me: Shut up. You want me to finish this, don't you?**

**Robin: ...**

**Me: Ha. I don't own any Teen Titans anything. **

* * *

Cyborg braced himself for the impact, jumping away from the four-eyed blast of energy at the last minute. There was no reason to take on any damage if it was unnecessary, it would just become a problem later on in the fight and at the moment, he had no desire to put himself or his fellow teammates in any sort of compromising position. Thankfully, Beast Boy had morphed into his pterodactyl-form as Raven drew on her powers to take to the air and the maneuverability it offered.

Taking advantage of their distraction, Cyborg began to run along the ground, dodging the dips in the uneven ground and keeping his body at an angle to return fire. He was decidedly satisfied to see that some of his blasts were hitting their marks and that the red creature was entirely unable to fight all three of them at once. That was good. That was very good. It meant that there was a good advantage on their side, as long as they could keep it up.

He frowned. Beast Boy and Raven were good distractions, especially with Raven shearing off bolts of black-white energy with rapid-fire bursts. Taking the moment, Cyborg ducked behind one rock and powered his cannon for twice the impact. It wasn't something he was in the habit of doing, but the situation demanded it and he was going to deliver.

Jumping out from the rock, he took aim and fired, purposefully.

The blast was true and one-hundred percent accurate.

The red creature roared and bellowed a loud cry of pain, effectively angered and all minor irritations forgotten as it's attention shifted from the green winged dinosaur and rebellious daughter to focus on the metal-armored cyborg. The four yellow eyes searched rapidly for all of a handful of seconds before it zeroed in on a fleeing Cyborg. He powered up to deliver a blast point-blank to the interfering figure when another screech of pain was forced through his fanged mouth.

Beast Boy had seen what was happening and reacted the only way he could, grabbing the creature's thick white hair with his powerful talons and jerking backwards as hard and fast as he could. It worked just well enough to topple the creature for the second time that day.

It crashed to the rocky ground with roars of disapproval, recovering quickly enough to begin firing bolts of yellow energy at the Green animal morpher.

"Beast Boy, look out!" Raven shouted, throwing all her might into a strong black bolt to counter the energy her father had hurled towards her friend. She didn't dare check over her shoulder to know if he was alright. He had to be. They'd been making some progress until they'd toppled him over. His fast recovery was the biggest hint she knew of. He was ticked off and that was making his attacks twice as powerful and definitely more effective.

That wasn't a good thing at all. Raven grimaced, dodging to the side and throwing another bolt of energy towards him. This wasn't something she could keep doing all day. It was bad to let it drag on for as much as she had. They needed a new plan of action—especially if there were three of them here.

* * *

Robin felt his feet slowing of their own accord as they drew nearer to Raven's room. He really didn't want to be going there. Correction, he really didn't want to be going there on Starfire's errand. He was sure Raven was fine. If she wasn't, he would've noticed. Team leaders were supposed to notice things like that. She'd been perfectly fine, as far as he could tell—a little more exhausted than normal, more stressed than usual, but still fine.

Starfire hovered a few steps ahead of him, rounding the corner with her usual quick movements.

It was at that particular moment he felt a distinct twinge in the back of his mind. Robin stopped. He waited for the feeling to repeat itself but it didn't. He frowned. He knew that kind of thing. It meant that something was wrong. Somewhere, somehow, something was wrong.

Starfire reappeared around the corner, a frown on her face. "Robin, now is not the time to be stopping in the middle of hallways!" She floated over to hover directly in front of him, about to speak again when she caught the look on his face. It was just enough of a change for her to know what it meant. "Robin?" She asked, gentler this time. "What is wrong?"

One green-gloved hand moved towards his face, shifting at the last minute to smooth his spiky hair. "I don't know, Star." He said, honestly. "I don't know at all." If something was wrong, then it meant that he'd missed something else somewhere. The thought made him scowl and he reached towards the hallway wall, bracing himself.

Starfire slowly unfolded her feet and stood on the solid ground. "Robin, whatever is the matter? I must know at-"

He held up a hand, his mind whirling furiously. He never missed things. He never missed things that made for some sort of-oh. He felt a slight chill run through him as his mind made the connection he hadn't allowed it before. The absence of Cyborg and Beast Boy. Raven's smashed in bedroom door.

The boy wonder stifled a moan. Referee. He was going to play referee again. If there was any particular aspect of being team leader that made his stomach turn at the very thought, it was playing mediator between a hyper green teenager, a one-track-mind Cyborg and a very ticked off Empath.

Been there, done that, didn't get the T-shirt.

Starfire took up a position to his left, bracing on the wall beside him, staring at the blank wall opposite. She didn't say a word. They stood there, in silence, her impatient and him thinking hard.

"Robin?" She ventured, after a few silent moments. "May we now go see if Raven is-"

"No."

The redhead pouted and looked away.

* * *

Cyborg ran.

It was taking more concentration to run carefully on the jagged terrain that he cared for. One particular dip in the ground made him grimace and as he leapt, he felt familiar talons catch hold of him, hauling upwards. Beast Boy. He smiled, relieved, only to see Raven streak past them both and brace herself, before blasting a large portion of the ground, creating a dust cloud.

He coughed, shielding his face as Beast Boy zoomed after the cloaked Empath. Within minutes, they were crouched behind a small rock as the red creature bellowed and howled in the opposite direction. Beast Boy shuddered and shape-shifted to his human form. His nose wrinkled and he was about to sneeze when Raven grabbed his hand and clapped it over his own mouth.

"Don't you dare." She hissed. "He'll hear you."

The sound was muffled and painful as he sneezed and then yanked his hand free of hers, waving it in the air with an expression of disgust on his young face. Anything he might have said was silenced with Cyborg's not-so-subtle hand dropping heavily on his shoulder. He whimpered.

"Raven?" Cyborg nodded towards her, already seeing the words on her face that she had yet to say.

"It's not use. He's too strong. Even with your help, I cannot defeat him." Her hands clenched into fists and her face turned away. "I shouldn't have dragged you into this, it's all-"

"You didn't drag us. We volunteered." Cyborg interrupted. "Quit moping. Call for backup or something. What about all those other yous?

Beast Boy perked up at once, wriggling out from under Cyborg's authorative hand. "Yeah. Do that. The green one kinda kicked butt." He pumped a fist in the air. "She was cool!"

"And I'm not?" Raven growled, taking the distraction for what it was worth. Cyborg fixed her with a frown. She leaned away, slightly. "I can't. Even if I did, it still wouldn't be enough. None of my other sides have the kind of power we need. We need mad power. The kind that…it won't work. We need to think of something else."

Cyborg almost smiled. That was good. She was thinking of them as a team again, that was definitely an improvement. Beast Boy twitched beside him and he turned at once. He knew what that meant. The green kid had just gotten an idea that was probably exactly what they needed.

"Maybe…" Beast Boy said, slowly. "But Raven, what if…not alone-but together?" He shifted awkwardly in his crouched position. "They're all part of who you are, right?"

Cyborg grinned. It faded as another roar and blast of yellow energy cut too close to where they were, but he knew a good plan when he heard it and that was good. He thumped the animal morpher on the back and dared to peek around the corner of the rock. He ducked back a split-second later. They'd all have to work together to make this work and he could already taste the sweet stain of success. "Go for it, Rae. We got your back." He gave a snappy salute and sprang out from their rock and bolted towards the red creature.

"Ditto." Beast Boy gave an encouraging nod, before springing to his feet and dashing after Cyborg.

* * *

Raven watched them go and for the first time, a faint smile crept onto her face and stayed. She leaned back against the rock and began to concentrate as her eyelids slid shut. The surge of energy came and flooded into her with fresh renewal.

She rose to her feet and walked several steps into the smoothed clearing between the jagged boulders. Her hood rose and sheltered her head as the wind whipped up a few swirls of dust, toying with her cloak. Opening her eyes, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and a flare of energy accompanied the movement.

Six duplicates rose from the ground, a mismatched rainbow of colored cloaks. Yellow Raven peered out from behind giant, goggle-glasses, the Pink Raven was checking her cloak and the Grey Raven slunk along the edge of the group, while Green Raven stretched, both arms waving in the air. As an almost afterthought, Orange Raven appeared with one finger stuck in her ear as she opened her eyes sleepily and burped.

Raven resisted the urge to scowl. She needed to concentrate now.

All eight cloaked figures rose into the air, hovering several feet above the ground before it happened. In a brilliant swirl of color and light, Raven fused her original self into every side of her personality present. The color blurred into white, stirring up the ground beneath them and with a powerful surge, everything went white.

In the midst of the pure power, Raven felt herself being torn in all directions and then forcefully smashed together. It was painful. It was painless. It was a powerful and mind-blowing. Inside the orb of light, peace and purity, there was enough strength to fortify her darkened soul.

Hidden by the light, where no one could see and survive, Raven's eyes flew open and she smiled.

* * *

He felt her presence before he saw her. Cyborg fired his cannon from mid-air, thanks to Beast Boy's aerial assistance. They were holding their own, but just barely. It was as if the more damage they inflicted, the more powerful and angry the thrashing creature became.

It dodged his last shot and retaliated with a barrage of bird-like creatures that materialized beside the duo and began to attack them. Beast Boy yelped, dropping Cyborg and streaking off into the sky in a vain attempt to lose the little buggers. Cyborg swallowed his groan and flailed his arms wildly, firing off shots, hoping to get lucky. This was bad.

Then he felt it.

A shift and change in the air, as if something powerful and predatory had just made itself known. A stillness seemed to come with it as the bird's angry squawks became muffled. Even the silence seemed to shudder.

The red creature was oblivious to it, until the wind whipped viciously around him. The creature turned slowly and stared.

* * *

Hovering just before his face, clad in white from head to toe, was Raven. Her face was hidden in the shadows of the white cloak and there was something stronger emanating from her very being as she hovered before him. Without warning, her hands went to her sides, poised for movement and a mass of black energy formed between her two palms.

Hurling it outward, Raven threw it at Trigon, a swirling mass of black-white energy that formed itself into a band that bound the demon from shoulders to waist. She spoke up, her voice dark and terrible in tone. "You've done enough! You're going back where you belong!"

Trigon roared, struggling against the binding spell she'd cast on him. "Never!" He spat. "Insolent little-!" The surge of anger was enough for him to break loose from the band.

Raven didn't even flinch. She rose into the air, keeping their heights almost matched as her arms crossed in front and her eyes and mouth began to blaze with the same incredible power that was literally pouring out of her body.

Trigon's response was two brilliant beams of yellow energy to counter the strike rushing towards him.

The energies met and clashed, canceling each other out until it became a sheer battle of wills, the balance going from one to the other and then back again. Sometimes Raven's energy was stronger and sometimes the yellow one was brighter.

In the corner of her eye, Raven was aware of her titan teammates struggling against Trigon's bird-barrage. Her eye twitched and she threw that annoyance into the swell of energy streaming out of her. Within seconds, the birds disappeared in puffs of grey smoke.

The battle continued, until it was evident that Raven was slowly gaining the upper hand. With one final surge, a groan left her lips as Raven threw everything into this last effort and sent the beam crashing backwards. It overpowered the yellow energy, surging into the demon's face, followed by an incredible flash of light.

As the light faded, standing on the ground was another Raven-duplicate, this one in a dark red cloak with equally dark red, glowing eyes. Red Raven stood tall in front of the White Raven, a miniature thing of barely a foot tall, attempting to intimidate the real thing.

Red Raven threw her head back showing two pairs of the red glowing eyes before her body disintegrates into a bolt of energy that crackled into White Raven's hand. There was a twitch of her cloaked shoulders and then another brilliant flash.

* * *

The smoke cleared to show Raven in her usual blue-purple cloak, standing atop a rock at the edge of the once-battlefield, her body bowed forward as if cringing inward upon itself to handle all that has just happened in the last few minutes.

With a quiet moan, the Empath straightens and a faint flicker of wind blows through, offering a hint of refreshment and showing that all has returned to normal. The moan bubbled up again and she collapsed backward into two pairs of waiting arms.

Cyborg smiled proudly. "It's alright Rae, we gotcha."

"It's good." Beast Boy murmurs. "It's okay."

They set the purple-haired girl on her feet and the cloak fell from her face, revealing a faint tinge of blush on her pale cheeks. She reached up with one thin hand to rub her head. "We did it. Thank you...friends."

Beast Boy broke into a wide grin. "So...we really are friends?"

She nodded, a small smile appearing to accompany the blush. "Mmm-hmm."

The green boy smirked. "And you really think I'm funny?"

The smile faded and the blush melted away. Her trademark glare of narrowed lavender eyes drilled straight into him. "Don't push it, green boy."

* * *

**~*~*~*Thanks for reading! ~*~*~ ^_^**


	9. Getting To Know Each Other

**A/N: This may be the shortest chapter out of all of these. LOL. I didn't want to drag it on for too long, so I did wrap it up a bit quickly. Thanks again for the reviews and for the votes on the poll on my profile. The next scheduled fic will be an extended episode version of "Switched" when Raven and Starfire swap bodies, so keep a lookout for it! Thanks for sticking with the story and reading it all the way through. *hands out cookies and soda***

**Disclaimer: I'm DONE!**

**Robin: Three cheers. **

**Me: Really? **

**Robin: No.**

**Me: Meanie!**

**Robin: Really?**

**Me: You could at least say, like, congrats or something. This took me a long time to write!**

**Robin: Congrats or something. Say the disclaimer. **

**Me: *sniffle* I don't own any Teen Titans anything. Wah. :P  
**

* * *

Robin braced one foot against Raven's bedroom door, straining against Starfire's alien strength as the redhead stood with her hand poised to knock. He tried to figure a way out of the whole mess and hadn't been able to come up with a solution that would leave every team member happy.

"Starfire…"

Starfire had grown tired of waiting on him to do the mental gymnastics and had finally taken off towards the dark Empath's room. His last ditch effort was in motion now. If he could just keep her from knocking, maybe by some strange stroke of luck, Raven herself would appear and put an end to the entire mess.

She sighed. "Please! Let us simply-"

Robin grunted. "Raven asked us not to disturb her!" He strained against the arm. "We need to respect her privacy and not bother her when-"

Starfire stared at him, quizzically. " But Robin, she could be weeping and in the greatest of emotional distress and-"

"I don't want to bother her!" Robin gave another useless tug. "You shouldn't either."

"But if we merely-"

The door opened.

Starfire gasped, then relaxed, her trademark smile painting itself across her face. Robin tumbled backwards to the floor and stared.

Taking up the entire doorway was Cyborg in the back, Beast Boy standing next to Raven and the Empath herself standing calmly between them, a half-smile on her face.

Robin tried to find his voice and heard himself ask. "Where have you guys been?" He hoped it didn't sound as accusing as he felt.

Cyborg shrugged, noncommittally. "Just getting to know each other." His gaze flickered to Raven, who almost smiled, the faintest touch of a blush resurfacing. He nudged Beast Boy forward and out of Raven's bedroom. "Miss us?"

"Yes, yes. Of course." Starfire bobbed her head. "Come, friends. We shall prepare a new breakfast feast." She floated up a few feet, tucking her feet up behind her.

Beast Boy smiled, the expression a little muted. "It's a little late for breakfast, Star." He tried to calm the alien girl. "Maybe just some herbal tea would be good."

Raven stepped out of the room and moved to the side so Cyborg could exit. Her smile lingered at Beast Boy's consideration. He wasn't so bad when he wasn't being so incredibly annoying. She remembered the exploding plate and the green boy with tofu on his face. She licked her lips. "Actually, breakfast sounds...nice."

Stars seemed to flash in his eyes and Beast Boy gave a half-twirl, dancing around Starfire. "Breakfast for dinner? Coming right up!" He dashed down the hallway, Starfire in his wake.

Cyborg was still for all of a half-second. "Oh, no, you don't! I'm cooking this time!" He yelled, running after the two of them. "We're having real eggs—and real milk!"

* * *

Robin was on his feet again, watching the energetic trio disappear around the hallway corner. He didn't even realize he was standing there watching them until he saw Raven move out of the corner of his eye.

"Robin." She acknowledged, starting forward and stopping. "You okay?"

He blinked. "Glad you're alright."

She nodded, but didn't move.

They stood, staring at each other for a moment until Robin had to look away. He couldn't keep staring at her like that when there were other thoughts beginning to filter through his head. He was glad that she was okay. He was glad that she had asked if he was okay. He was doubly glad that she seemed willingly to meet the rest of them halfway in making up for the breakfast explosion.

He was glad, period.

And he was decidedly jealous.

He had assumed Beast Boy had caused some sort of trouble and Cyborg would've gotten involved for the sake of protecting both the morpher and the Empath from each other. He hadn't expected to find them all smiles and cheery-faced walking out of Raven's room with only a cryptic 'getting to know each other' line.

"Robin?" Raven tried again, this time her voice was lower and she'd taken the few steps closer to him, her brow furrowed. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah." He looked away for a moment. He was saying things that he wasn't sure he wanted to be saying yet. He wanted his voice back already. This was beginning to turn into an awkward sort of—

She stared straight at him. There were things flickering across his face that she was fairly certain he was entirely unaware of it. The little twitches as the corners of his mask, the way his mouth tightened in the slightest fraction when he was trying to keep his expression neutral. Signs. Lots and lots of signs. Something had happened. Something had bothered him. It was almost as if he'd been through just as much as she had. Raven waited a moment longer, but he wasn't snapping out of it. She stifled a sigh, inwardly and spoke to bring him out of it. "Thanks."

He found his voice at last. "For what?"

The blush dusted her cheeks a darker shade. He was half-there and almost completely oblivious, it seemed, but she had seen his effort. It hadn't taken a genius to put two and two together when the door had slid open. She'd felt the approaching signatures and had hurried to get Cyborg and Beast Boy to the door.

She'd been relieved to reach it before Starfire's knock had come. Robin's efforts had been icing on the cake. He cared. He cared enough to entertain the alien princess in who knows what way so that she could have the few precious moments of silence and sanity. That said more than he ever could have. "For occupying Starfire."

"Oh."

"-and…respecting my privacy." She turned in a swirl of blue-purple fabric. "It helped."

"You're welcome." A faint bubble of happiness registered and Robin found himself falling into step beside her. "So…just getting to know each other?" He couldn't help it, he had to ask. He wanted to know. He almost wished he'd been there, just so he could've learned a little more about the mysterious purple-haired girl.

She smirked, the expression unusual. "Pretty much. Tofu or real milk?"

She was changing the subject on him. Robin recognized the effort for what it was. It had been a long day. Whatever had happened, whatever she'd gone through, it had exhausted her. He wasn't going to add to it any way if he could help it. This could easily be a conversation saved for another time. He let himself smile and took the Empath's obvious distraction. He could always ask Cyborg later. "Real milk. I forgot to buy tofu."

Raven almost laughed.

They walked down to the kitchen and Robin stayed a little closer than necessary, his gloved hand occasionally brushing against her soft cloak.

To her credit, Raven pretended she didn't notice—it was too sweet to ruin.

* * *

**~*~*~Thanks for reading! ~*~*~***


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